The Willful and the Blind
by katiesquilts
Summary: A new student appears in the Day Class, but does she belong there? She already knows things she shouldn't, and this gets her into sticky problems. Luckily, Zero and Kaname are there to help! Complete! KanamexOCxZero
1. Chapter 1

Okee! I am so PLEASED with the results from my Gakuen Alice one-shot! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU if you reviewed! I still have a list of 10 other stories I am going to put up, so if you are smart, put me on your author alert. I'm not going to guarantee you'll know the anime I'm writing about, but yeah! I might introduce you to a new fav anime! Okay, I'll get on to the story now!

-----------

"Class, might I introduce a new student?" The teacher said, raising his voice so that the Day students would hear him over their incessant talking. About half of the class quieted down, and the rest continued their conversations in murmured whispers.

"This is Yoko Nakamura." A girl of medium height with dark, chocolate-brown, shoulder-length hair stepped forward. Amazingly green eyes surveyed the room, looking over each person for about a second, before moving on to the next.

The teacher turned to Yoko and said, "I hope you adjust to this school quickly." Flashing her a quick smile, he turned back to the class and searched for an empty seat. "Why don't you sit in the back, next to Zero." The teacher pointed out Zero, and Yoko silently climbed the steps to the back of the classroom, sitting in the seat to the right of Zero.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," teacher said, clapping his hands for the classroom to become completely silent. Yoko watched as the rest of the class got out their textbooks, and she did the same, reaching into a small bag at her feet for the correct book. Realizing she did not have it, the girl clasped her fingers together and rested her elbows on the top of her desk, content to just listen to the lecture.

"Ms. Nakamura, please take out your Literature hardback." When Yoko did not move, the teacher suspected she did not have it. Sighing, he waved his hand and said, "Well, I suppose you'll have to share with Kiryu until you can get a copy."

Yoko nodded silently and turned her head a bit to look at Zero. To her bemused surprise, the boy was sleeping peacefully, head resting upon the desk in such a position so that the teacher could not tell he was asleep.

Smiling, Yoko leaned back so that she could see inside of Zero's desk. The inside was littered with papers, but his textbooks were lined up neatly at the back. Reading the labels, she easily found the Literature book, and pulled it out by it's spine, placing it discreetly between her and the sleeping boy, so as not to ruin the boy's sleeping act.

Following along in the book, Yoko would often cast glances at the sleeping boy. Turning the pages slowly in an attempt to keep him asleep, she took notes with one hand, the other holding down the paper, moving only to turn another page in the textbook.

Before long, the bell rang for classes to switch. Yoko tucked her notes into the hardback and placed it at the corner of Zero's desk. Grabbing her bag, she stood up and pushed her chair in, knocking the chair and desk together enough to stir the boy next to her. Seeing her actions were not enough to wake the heavy-sleeper, Yoko tapped his head roughly as she walked behind him to the classroom door, causing his head to fall out of his hand, hitting against his desk in an undignified manner.

"Damn, what the hell?" the boy asked sleepily. He rubbed his forehead, before noticing he was the only one left in the classroom. Grabbing his Lit. hardback from the edge of his desk and reaching under his desk for his math book, he tucked both books under his arm and ran down the stairs to the classroom door, thinking, _When did I put my Literature hardback on my desk? And why is there a paper in there? I'll check later, but if I don't hurry, Yuuki is going to kill me. I just hope she didn't notice I was asleep most of last period. I'm not even sure if I can stay awake __next__ period._

Zero made it to his next class just in time for the bell to ring. Panting, he slumped over to his seat, not paying attention to the teacher that was scolding him for almost being late. Zero was so preoccupied with getting to his seat, he didn't even notice the new student who had taken the normally empty seat next to him.

Collapsing into his chair, Zero dropped his hardbacks on his desk, causing a loud thunk to resonate throughout the room. No one really noticed, however, because the students were talking loudly as usual. Zero watched his classmates for a bit, before he remembered the page that had appeared in his Lit. book. Curiousity taking over, he tugged his hardback out from under his math book and opened the page the paper was in.

Reading over the page, Zero quickly found out that it consisted of notes, probably what he had missed while he was asleep. Skipping over all of the educational crap, he came down to the bottom. A small note had an asterick next to it. It read:

_ You should try staying awake in class. It's amazing you aren't flunking, if this is your normal lifestyle._

Zero laughed out loud. This person was cocky enough to take notes for him, and then chide him for making his own decisions. Tucking the notes back into his English hardback, he reminded himself that what they said was true, and that he'd be wise to not flunk out of an easy class. His good grades were his protectors. The one time he _had _gotten a terrible grade, Yuuki had chewed his ass off about falling asleep, getting his homework done, etc.

And he _wasn't _going to go through that again.

"Alright class, it's time to start," a perky voice said from the head of the classroom. Without further ado, the class quieted down, and followed the lesson. Zero listened to the teacher speak, but only listening gets boring after a while. Looking around the classroom, he spotted Yuuki, who was busy doing practice problems. From his vantage spot, he could just barely make out his friend's tiny, tiny writing.

_Wait, Yuuki writes with small handwriting, but the note's handwriting is slightly larger. That means she didn't create the notes. But if she didn't, who did?_

Zero was startled when he heard a muttered curse coming from next to him. No one sat next to him in this class...did they? Looking to his right, Zero was even more surprised to find a girl with dark brown hair and emerald green eyes rummaging in a small bag. Apparently finding what she was looking for, the girl pulled out a small pouch and dropped her leadless pencil into it, taking out another sharpened one.

Zero watched in interest as the girl dropped the bag to her feet after replacing the pouch, and then went back to writing. She wrote in a curly script, much like the one on Zero's notes. Zero looked over the girl's shoulder most of the period, not even paying attention to the lesson. When the bell rang, he was so surprised he almost fell backwards out of his chair.

Grabbing his unopened hardbacks, the boy followed his new desk neighbor out of the classroom, back to homeroom. Hanging back at the doorway, he waited for her to take her seat, and wasn't as surprised when she took the seat next to his.

Taking his regular place, Zero decided to ignore the new girl for the time being. Placing his hardbacks into his desk, he took out his history hardback. Silently, he watched as the other students trickled back in, taking their seats and continuing their conversations from the last period.

"Zero!" a cheerful voice came from behind him. Zero turned his head to take in Yuuki's form. "What?" he asked.

Yuuki smiled at him with her best smile, and Zero got the sinking feeling in his stomach that meant the girl wanted something. "Did you take notes for Literature this morning? I, um, fell asleep half-way through the class." Yuuki muttered the last part with an air of defeat. Zero blinked and realized that she didn't know he had fallen asleep also. Remembering the notes tucked into his hardback, he dug the book out and shook the paper out of the pages.

"Yeah, here," he said, handing Yuuki the page of notes, completely forgetting the note at the bottom. "Just be sure to give them back later." Yuuki hugged her 'brother' and skipped of to her seat, which was only two rows down and a few seats to the right.

This period, the class imediately quieted when the teacher opened the door. Rumbling in his deep voice, the toughest teacher in the Day Class boomed, "Everyone, open your books to page 167 and prepare to take notes." Turning ot the chalkboard, the teacher started writing and Zero tried to copy the rough handwriting down onto his own piece of paper. Giving up after the first 15 minutes, Zero put down his pencil and sighed.

Looking next to him, Zero wasn't surprised to see the girl still writing in her curly handwriting. She would glance at the chalkboard, copy a sentence or two down, glance up again, copy the sentence...over and over again. Zero was somewhat placed into a trance by her movements, and that trance ended when the teacher called his name.

"Kiryu! Who was the first Japanese empress?" the strict teacher demanded.

Zero shook his head and looked down at his notes. He had not written that note down, and the teacher had erased the board in order to write even _more_ notes. Silently, the girl next to him underlined something on her paper and slid the paper over to his desk. Reading the underlined, Zero said, "Her name was Empress Suiko."

"When was she born, and how long was her rule?" Geez, the teacher wasn't going to let up so easily. Rrereading the notes surrounding the underlined answer, Zero found his answer and read, "She was born in 554 A.D., and her reign spanned from 593 A.D. to her death in 628 A.D."

The teacher nodded approvingly, and urned back to the chalkboard. Zero slid his neighbor's notes back to her, mouthing the words 'thank you'. The girl just smiled back at him and began to copy down the newest set of notes.

Zero leaned back and copied down a few more notes unconsciously. His mind wandered, until he came to a single conclusion.

_That girl's notes have saved me twice today. I wonder..._

------------

Omeegosh! This story is amazingly easy to write! Things get a bit messy in the next chapter! Please, review!

Also, the thing about Empress Suiko is true! Just search for her name on wikipedia, you'll find out all kinds of interesting things! And, because I don't know any of the teachers' names, I'm just going to refer to them as 'teacher', or 'the teacher'. Kay? Kay.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh my gosh! This isn't going so well. As I type this, only 7 people have read this story! TT NOT. GOOD. I thought people might actually like the idea, but I guess I suck at summaries, so, yeah. I'm actually having a fun time writing this story, because it's been stuck in my head for some time now, and the scene that is coming up in this chapter haunts my dreams. I just like to replay it, over and over.

So, please tell people about this story, and please check out my other stories too!

--------------

"Please! Settle down!" Yuuki Cross shouted as she spread her arms wide to try and keep the restless fans girls at bay. "The Night Class will be coming soon, so please behave!" she begged, biting her lip when a girl jostled out of line and stumbled onto the cement.

Gasping Yuuki saw a small trickle of blood run down the girl's leg. "Oh my gosh, I have to get you to the infirmary, she informed the girl. The girl shookher head, determined to see her idols.

Suddenly Zero appeared in front of the two girls, giving the injured girl a death glare. "Go to the infirmary NOW," he said, his voice indifferent and cold. The girl froze and then struggled to stand. Yuuki helped hte girl up and turned to Zero. "Can you really handle all of these girls without me?" she asked. _Someone _had to escort the other girl to the nurse, but only one guardian on duty was a bit insane.

Zero gave Yuuki the don't-underestimate-me stare, and she sighed. "Fine, but I'll be right back after I drop this girl off," she reminded her friend. Taking the injured girl by the elbow, she hurried the girl off in the opposite direction from the giant, wooden door leading to the Moon dorms.

The giant door that, in fact, was now opening. Fan girls screamed with hysteria as several figures walked past the giant slabs of wood, and into view. Zero tried giving them glares, but it only quieted them by a fraction.

"Zero?" a voice said from behind Zero's back. The boy turned, only to come face-to-face with Kaname Kuran, his worst enemy. "Isn't Yuuki here today? She isn't hurt is she? I thought I caught a whiff of, well, _you _know." Kaname was referring to Zero's vampiric existance, and Zero grit his teeth.

"Yuuki's _fine_, one of the girls was pushed to the concrete and scraped her knee, so Yuuki took it upon herself to escort the girl to the infirmary." Zero did not make any attempt to hide the contempt in his voice. "Besides, shouldn't you know the scent? You've been known to boast her scent on the wind more than once, haven't you? I'd think you could at least tell the difference."

Zero would have gone on his speech longer, but a particularly brave fan girl decided to step from her place, and Zero caught her by the neck of her uniform. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he growled. The girl cowered, and Zero let go of her, pushing her back into the crowd.

"Yoko? Aren't they wonderful?" a particular voice caught his ear. He knew the voice belonged to someone in his homeroom, but he had never heard the name 'Yoko' before. Turning to the direction the oice came from, Zero found himself looking at two familiar faces. One he recognized as the girl who sat exactly three rows in front of him, the other was the girl who sat...

Right next to him.

It was the dark haired, emerald-eyed girl who had given him her notes. This surprised Zero; had she already become a fan girl of the Night class?

"No," was the reply that came out of Yoko's mouth. The new girl slumped up against the brick wall behind her, peering at the book she held in her left hand. "I don't see anything special about them."

Yoko's blunt reply made Zero chuckle out loud. This girl was the second person he had ever met that didn't fancy any one person from the Night class; the first person being Yuuki's friend Yori.

Unfortunately for Yoko, Zero wasn't the only one who heard her remark. Several dozen pairs of eyes all snapped to the new girl's face as her comment registered in her head. In no time at all, Yoko was pinned up against the brick wall, dozens and dozens of angered fan girls shouting at her, threatening her, and shaking fists at her. All through-out, Yoko kept a calm, blank facade, and the one time she looked up from her book, she looked straight through all the fan girls, directly at Zero.

And Zero understood the look.

Yoko had purposefully pulled all the girls to her, in an attempt to keep them away from the Night class. And so far, the plan was working.

But, of course, all good plans have an untimely downfall. This plan's downfall happened to come in the form of Hanabusa Aido.

Are you sure...you don't find anything special about _us?_" Aido had somehow made his way through all of the raging fangirls until he was standing right next to Yoko. The vampire held Yoko's jaw, pulling her face to the side so he could get a better look in the dim light. Yoko frowned at this, and she swatted away Aido's hand.

"I'm positive," she replied sternly, giving a glare to Aido. Aido twitched, this girl wasn't falling under his vampire charm? She'd have to be a first, for sure. Too bad Aido wasn't one to give up.

Running his fingers across Yoko's skinny neck, Aido pulled her closer to him with his free arm, causing a great deal of hissing to come from the crowd surrounding them. Nuzzling the tense girl in the crook of her neck, Aido practically purred and whispered, "How sure _are_ you?"

Yoko tensed. She had never had a guy all over her like this before, and now wasn't the time to start. Trying to struggle away, Yoko found Aido's grip unbreakable, and when she tried to use her arms to push him away, he just swatted them away with his own arm.

"Get off of me, you annoying pest!" she hissed through frustration. Aido heard the insult and stopped nuzzling her, taking time to stand up to his full height and glare her straight in the eye, much like she had to him.

"An annoying pest, am I?" he asked. A gleam shone in his eyes, and Yoko tried to distance the two of them, but Aido's grip was still tight. Leaning forward so that only Yoko could hear, he replied, "We'll see how annoying I am when I--"

"Enough!" Zero's voice rang out through the crowd, and Aido stopped midsentence. The girls scattered until Zero and Aido were face-to-face. Zero was pointing his Bloody Rose at Aido, holding it at arm's length. "Put Yoko down, and leave to your classes," the younger vampire warned.

"I'd like to correct you," Aido smirked. "I may be holding your precious Yoko, but I'm not lifting her up, so there's no techinical way I can 'put her down'. Unless you mean verbally, of course." Turning Yoko'd head roughly he sighed in a mock sympathy. "I'd be so hard to find anything wrong with this beautiful face though," he said.

Yoko frowned again, and made a mental note to slap Aido when she got out of his grasp. She was pretty sure that the last part was a compliment, but anything coming from him, she was pretty sure she could take as offensive.

Zero sighed, Aido was in a bad mood, apparently. _Where is that damn Kaname to command his stupid pets when you actually need him?_ Kaname had slipped past Zero's defenses, and now the gun-holder had no idea where the bastard could appear.

"Really, Aido, just leave her alone and go to your next class," Zero sighed. This was getting particularly annoying. What would Yuuki do? Oh yeah. Rely on Kaname. Of course.

Aido smirked and held Yoko tighter. "You know what, I don't think I will. Yoko's pretty cute, don't you think?" A few of the girls watching wailed; they wanted to be called cute by their "Idol".

"What's going on here?" two voices asked in almost complete unison. Zero's turned his head slightly and saw Yuuki and Kaname walked, side-by-side, towards the group. Yuuki had a confused look on her face, while Kaname's lookwas more reprimanding, as though he had caught a group of school boys with a dangerous weapon. Which, in a way, he had.

"K-kaname..." Aido sputtered, letting go of Yoko as his arms slid back to his sides. "I'm so glad to see you."

Zero, on the other hand, thought otherwise.

--------------

Woot woot!I just checked back at the stats page. 39 hits and 3 reviews! Let's up those numbers, please!


	3. Chapter 3

Woot woot! I love this story! I can't wait, can't WAIT! In fact, I think I'm going to purposefully skip the idea I had for this chapter, cause I wanna get to the 'fun' part!

Thank you for the reviews!

-------------

Yuuki saw Yoko and immediately ran up to her. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. The prefect glared up at Aido and demanded, "Let her go _now_." Aido agreed, and his long, skinny arms released their hold. Yoko just gazed up at him with a blank stare, and then walked out of the crowd to stand by Zero, using him as a bit of a shield.

"Aido," Kaname began calmly. "I'm a bit disappointed in you. You failed to follow a prefect's orders, and you were holding such a lovely young lady in such an unattractive manner." Aido bowed his head, guilt beginning to build on his shoulders. Kaname motioned to his friend with a whisk of his hand, and Aido walked over to the gate with him.

Glancing over his shoulder, Kaname called out to Yuuki, "I'm sorry we caused this much trouble. We'll see you after class." Then, he and Aido disappeared ino the school building.

Zero watched this exchange and flinched when a whole crowd of crazed fangirls came running his way. Why? Because he had allowed Yoko to take refuge behind him. Turning on the balls of his feet, Zero grabbed Yoko's hand and dragged her with him in the direction of the Sun dorms.

"I'm going too, Yuuki! See ya tomorrow in class!" he shouted as he retreated, Yoko in tow. Zero didn't catch the look of amused bewilderment that flashed across Yuuki's face.

"Whatever..." the girl muttered. Zero had taken all the girls with him, and so she was now all alone in the crossing courtyard. And that meant...

Time to spy on Kaname!

Taking out her binoculars and video camera, Yuuki whistled softly as she walked peacefully through the gate to the Night Class's class.

---------------

Yoko gasped as Zero pulled her down the path. She could barely keep her footing as the boy dragged her along behind him. She didn't even know where they were going, and she had a nagging suspicion that Zero didn't either. But, as long as the scary, angry fangirls couldn't catch up, she supposed it didn't really matter.

Yoko looked around when Zero finally slowed down. But only for a second. He had to open the heavy, wooden doors that were the main entrance to the Sun dorms. Then he pushed her through and kept pushing her, steering her through several corridors and up a few flights of stairs. Yoko was terrified when the fangirls were close enough for her to legibly understand their shouts of fury.

Finally, the two arrived at a door and Zero shoved a key into the keyhole, unlocking it and opening it, shoving Yoko through, walking in, and shutting it behind him, making sure to lock it again. Yoko could hear several thuds as people ran back and forth down the hallway, trying to figure out which door their prey had disappeared into.

When the thuds quieted down and moved on to another level of the dorms, Zero walked over to a wall and sank down. "That was troublesome," he commented quietly. Yoko just watched him from her spot in the middle of the room. She hadn't moved since Zero had so roughly pushed her through his doorway.

"I suppose I should thank you," she finally muttered. "Those girls are scary obsessed." Zero nodded, but otherwise didn't say anything. The two stood, or sat, in Zero's case, in an awkward silence.

"Think I can go back to my room now?" Yoko asked in defeat. She had secretly been holding a one-sided contest to see who would talk first. She was just one of those weird people who were easily amused, though she never showed it.

Zero shrugged. "I'm not escorting you," he deadpanned. Yoko frowned when the boy suddenly erupted into a coughing fit. "I didn't expect you to," she replied curtly, though she was seriously worried when Zero's coughing wouldn't stop.

Zero wiped his mouth after a particularly nasty cough, and grimaced. Blood. "Whatever," he told the still frowning Yoko. Yoko took a step towards the door, but stopped when Zero gasped. Or, at least, that's what it sounded like.

When Yoko turned to ask Zero what was wrong, she found him bent over, one arm clutching his heart, the other up at his mouth. For a moment, the girl panicked. Did Zero have a serious disease or something that he had to take medicine for? Maybe he hadn't taken his medicine that day...

"Zero!" Yoko exclaimed! She rushed over to the distressed boy and held a hand comfortingly over his shoulder. "Do you need anything?'

Zero froze. That was almost exactly how Yuuki offered her blood to him. Trying to hide his face, Zero muttered, "Water...please..." Yoko nodded and stood up straight. She could see part of a counter from an open door, so she headed over to that door and opened it fully. It was the personal bathrooms all dorm rooms had. Luckily for her, there was already a cup sitting by the sink, awaiting use. Next to the glass was a small case of what looked like small, red pills.

Filling the glass 3/4 of the way full with cold, clear water, Yoko grabbed the pills and took both out to the still huddled Zero. Zero took the glass gratefully and took a sip. Yoko held out the pills, and Zero looked at her quizzically. "I found them by the sink, and thought you might have forgotten to take them," she explained. Zero shook his head no, and Yoko looked down at the pills. Shrugging, she stood up and ran them back into the kitchen, placing them back where she had found them.

When she walked back into the main room, Zero was clutching his shirt again, and she could tell he was gritting his teeth because of his facial expression.

"Zero!" she said, her nervous worry showing through her usually quiet facade. "Zero! what the heck is wrong with you?" she asked, running over to kneel beside the boy. Zero shook his head, determined to not cry out in pain. Those damn tablets...it'd be so much easier if they could just reject him peacefully. The pain was almost intolerable.

"Zero," Yoko said, her voice now completely serious. "You _need _to tell me how I can help, or I'm going to call the ambulance, and you won't have a say in it at all." Zero's eyes widen, and he felt the pain subside for a moment. Taking the chance, he managed to gasp out, "I...need...to tell you...some...thing..."

----------------

0.0 Sorry, I want the next part to be in Zero's POV, and I hate switching right in the writing. It's so hard to be inconspicuous. So, yeah. thanks for all who supported the first two chapters!

The next chapter shall definitely rock!


	4. Chapter 4

OMG! It's so freakin' cold here in Indiana! I actually wore a pair of sweat pants to my volleyball game because we had to leave at like, 7:20 in the morning, and it was like, 50 degrees out. I even wore them home, because I like sitting next to the wondow so I can daze out and daydream and stuff, but I could literally feel myself being torn between the cold metal and the warm air of the bus. It was freaky!

Also, I have a new fascination with Switchfoot. My fav song is "Oh! Gravity".

Just telling you.

----------------

Yoko was sitting between Zero's knees, and her attention was entirely on the boy in front of her. Zero looked terrible. He was very pale for some unknown reason, and his body was shaking from the horrible coughing fits he kept getting. Yoko bit her lip. Zero had said he wanted to tell her something, but then he had become deathly quiet, grasping at the shirt material over his heart, breathing ragged and uneven.

"Zero," she whispered. "I should really call an ambulance." Yoko started to stand up, but Zero grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. Yoko frowned; she could not tell what the boy was thinking, because his face was hidden by his silver bangs.

"Zero," she said sternly this time.

"P-please...wait..." Zero managed to choke out. He was trying not to breathe too deeply, because it hurt his throat, and he was beginning to get very dizzy. Not to mention his muscles were getting sluggish, because of his low red blood cell count, they were not getting enough oxygen.

Yoko pouted and scootched closer to Zero so she could look up into his face. He was staring down at the floor, but turned away slightly when she tried to look him in the eye. "Zero," she said again, but this time she was sympathetic. "You can tell me what's wrong, really. I won't tell anyone else, but if you don't tell me, we can't get you help."

Zero clenched his teeth. "I don't need help," he muttered, and accidentally took in a sharp breath.

Yoko flicked Zero on the head and asked in a bored tone, "Then what _do_ you need?"

Zero tilted his head up until he was looking at the ceiling. She was prying too much; he'd have to tell her eventually. Not to mention, if he didn't get replacement blood soon, his own would betray him and send him into a dizzying pit of confusion.

Softly, he asked the girl, "Yoko, do you believe in vampires?"

Yoko sounded a bit surprised at his question, but immediately hid it. "I suppose anything is possible," she responded, not a hint of emotion tainting her voice. Zero just gave her a queer look before looking back up at the ceiling.

"What would you do if a vampire ever asked you for a little of your blood? Asked, not just took it."

Yoko's blank stare disappeared for a moment as she thought about the wording for her answer. "Not sure," she finally answered.

"That's not a real answer."

"Well, if they really REALLY needed it, I suppose it couldn't hurt, as long as they didn't take too much. And, at least they asked, right? I mean, that's kind of like a person walking up to you and asking to have sex with you, but it's better than the same person coming up to you and raping you." Zero could have chuckled at her explanation if he'd had the energy.

"What if I were a vampire, and I asked you for a bit of your blood?" Zero barely got the words out of his mouth before Yoko's hand came up and pried his lips apart.

"You have tiny fangs," she said, a bit disappointed. Zero gave her the What-the-hell-are-you-doing-you-crazy-person? look, and she laughed. She actually _laughed_.

"Well I'm sorry if my fangs aren't ten feet long. I'm not even a real vampire," Zero added the last part under his breath, but Yoko caught it anyway.

"You're a vampire, but not a real one?" she asked. "Isn't that a bit, I don't know..._ironic_?"

"No," Zero said. "What's ironic is that I'm a vampire, but I hate vampires with the passion of ten thousand suns, one thousand volcanoes, a hundred earthquakes, and 10 seriously angry fangirls." Yoko laughed at Zero's joke, but when the boy coughed up a bit of blood again, she became very worried. She'd never admit it, though.

"So, you need blood, right?" she asked tentatively. Zero looked disgusted for a bit, and then gave in.

"Yeah. Those red tablets you tried to give are supposed to be a substitute for real blood, but it looks like my body doesn't really like those."

Yoko frowned and then shrugged. "Well, if you need the blood, just take it. I'm not going to stop you." The girl sat in front of Zero and stared at him expectantly. Zero, not usually the one to be put on the spotlight, wiggled uncomfortably.

"What's the matter?" Yoko asked nonchalantly.

"...first day..." Zero mumbled. Yoko thought for a moment, and then realized what he was talking about. "Oh! You mean you're embarassed because we've only known each other for a day!" Yoko laughed, and Zero turned a deeper shade of red.

"Zero," Yoko said gently, lifting his face up with one finger, "vampires usually take from the neck, right? I'll make it easy on you." Yoko turned her head so that the right side of her neck was exposed and leaned in to Zero, encouraging him to go ahead.

Zero had to fight the natural instinct to bite right into the girl's neck. He needed the blood badly, or he would pass out, and then who knows what would happen? Reluctantly, he pulled Yoko up so that his mouth was brushing her neck. Lightly licking the place he would bite, Zero sank his fangs into the soft, delicate skin and sucked on the blood coming out from the new wound. Yoko was quiet the entire time, not even complaining or shifting when Zero's teeth entered her neck for a second time.

When the dizziness finally faded away and Zero felt almost normal again, he pulled away from Yoko and licked his lips, wiping away the rest of the blood on his face with the sleeve of his shirt. Yoko sat in front of Zero and stared at the ground. The two wounds on her neck were bleeding profusely.

After a minute or two of awkward silence, Zero finally muttered, "I'm sorry," and stalked off to the bathroom. Yoko just sat on the floor and followed his motions with her peripheral vision. Not too much later, Zero came back out of the bathroom with a small washcloth soaked in water and two bandaids. Yoko waited patiently as he wiped the excess blood from her neck and placed the bandaids on the two spots.

After Zero rinsed and wrang out the washcloth, he came back out to the main room and held his hand out to Yoko. "We better get you back to your dorm," he said. Yoko didn't take the offered hand, however.

"No," she said stubbornly. "You took something from me, now you own me a favor." Zero sighed, he had been expecting something like this deep down inside.

"Alright, what?" he asked.

Yoko got into a begging position with her hands clasped together and her big, puppy dog eyes. "Can I stay here for tonight? I have to share a dorm room with one of _them_..."

Zero felt a chuckle rise in his throat and forced it back down. "Fine, you can stay," he said. "Take the bed, I've got to go catch up to Yuuki for the night watch." Zero didn't catch the look that flickered over his new friend's face, because he had turned to the door and was unlocking it. "I'll be back in a few hours, so try not to kill anyone trying to come in unless you know it's not me." Yoko nodded, but didn't move from her spot on the floor. Zero disappeared through the door, and Yoko looked around. She could see the bed through yet another door, and began to wonder why Zero's dorm room was so different from the girls' rooms.

Getting up, Yoko walked through the door that led to the bedroom. She noticed how neat and orderly the room was, and wondered if Zero ever even used it. Sitting down slowly on the large, Queen-sized bed, Yoko lay down on the bed as quietly as she could. Staying close to the edge, Yoko drifted off into a half-sleep, half-daze mode.

_So that's what a vampire's bite feels like. It kinda stung, like a bee, but after that if actually felt pretty good. I guess I'm still a bit dizzy cause he took a lot of blood. I want to stay up and wait for him...but...I'm falling...asleep..._

Yoko's eyes closed and she drifted off into a light sleep. Dreams of mysterious vampires, bees, and raging fangirls haunted her as she twisted and turned, almost falling off the bed several times.

---------------------

Zero opened his door and shut it lightly behind him, clicking the lock. Yoko was not in the first room, so he supposed she had taken him up on the bed offer. Treading carefully, he walked over to his bedroom door and leaned against the frame. From the doorway he could easily make out the form of Yoko as she slept peacefully, unaware that she was being watched.

Zero's eyes softened. This girl was so stupid; she hadn't even thought about whether she might have turned into a vampire or not. She wasn't concerned about the possibility of him taking too much blood. She had accepted him as what he was, and hadn't commented on it. She hadn't even complained or squirmed when he bit into her, literally sucking the life from her. Not once, but twice.

What kind of girl _was_ she anyway?

Zero walked over to his bed, to the side that Yoko was currently in the process of falling off of. Lifting the girl up, he repostioned her so that she was farther into the middle of the bed. This made Yoko stir a bit, but she never opened her eyes. Zero silently took a seat against the wall next to the bed. He lifted knees up to his chin and thought about how Yoko had so willingfully positioned herself between the same knees earlier.

Zero shook his head, trying to get thoughts and images out of his mind. What was done had been done, and he couldn't change it. He had gotten Yoko involved. Leaning back until his back was fully against the wall, Zero concentrated on falling asleep.

He had almost fallen asleep, too, when he heard the soft thud of a pair of feminine feet hitting the floor. He heard the soft patters as those feet sauntered over to him and another thud as the female sat down. From the direction, he could tell the person was in front of him.

"Zero," he heard a voice whisper. He cracked an eye open and saw a worried looking Yoko. "Zero, I had a dream you couldn't come back to the room because you got pounded by fangirls!"

That did it. Zero laughed out loud. "I would never get beat by those wimpy fangirls," he said. When Yoko still looked unsure, Zero parted his legs and beckoned for her to come closer. Yoko crawled closer and sat with her shoulders across Zero's chest, his arms around her, a leg on either side of her.

"Well, if you say so..." Yoko muttered, about to fall off to sleep again.

"I say so," Zero ended, silencing the girl, squeezing her tightly to know he meant it. It wasn't more than a mintue later than Yoko's breathing evened out and she was passed out cold in Zero's arms.

The two of them slept like that on the floor that night, and they both had killer backaches when they woke up.

---------------

Have you ever tried sleeping with your back against the wall? I have, and my back felt like cement when I woke up! Not a good feeling! So, hoped you liked this! I tried not to make Zero too OOC. But, he has to have fun sometimes too. I can't believe you can make a OC OOC, but I did it! For the record, Yoko is stoic and cold-hearted when around anyway but Zero. Because she knows Zero's secret, I think she can open up to him a bit more, and joke around and stuff.

Anyhow, please review!

Ja ne!


	5. Chapter 5

This story is so much fun to write! Much better than a stupid story contest my grandma forced me to enter for our local newspaper. They had started a scary story and you had to finish it. I just typed a bunch of crap and submitted it, but on the off-chance I win, I will so totally tell you guys!

I haven't said this yet, but I don't own Vampire Knight!

This chapter is dedicated to the little carton of red juice sitting next to me that I like to pretend is blood. Because I have almost no other inspiration.

-------------------

Yoko could feel small spots on her body where cold air pushed on her bare skin. The top part of her body was warm, but her legs and hands were cold. Yoko felt as though she were in a cage, because she could feel deadweight running across her stomach in a horazontal line, and then two more weights pushed against her legs, as though they were threatening to fall on her.

Then realized that the warmth undermeath her was _moving_. Up, down, up, down. Was someone breathing in her ear? She could have sworn she heard someone's deep, calm breath. Also, something was tickling her forehead and cheeks.

Cracking open one eye, Yoko found herself staring across Zero's chest. Thinking back to the last few mintues of her conciousness, Yoko asked herself, _Wasn't I leaning on my back? Why am I on my side? Do I really move in my sleep? I hope I didn't wake Zero up in the middle of the night._

Yoko took in her new position. One of her hands had balled up into the fist and was pulled up near her breast, adn hte other was resting flatly against Zero's chest. Her head was somewhere between Zero's chest and his shoulder, and her legs were bent at the knees. Zero's legs had crossed hers somewhat, and his arms had neevr left their positions over her stomach.

Yoko had to tilt her head up to see Zero's face. His head was resting lightly on hers, and she realized his light, wispy hair had been what was tickling her face. Yoko smiled, Zero looked like an angel when he was asleep. Someone, Yoko couldn't remember who, had told her that a person's personality is reflected through their facial expressions when they're asleep. Because when you are asleep, you cannot lie to yourself or others, and you cannot put on a mask to hide your true feelings.

Yoko loked aorund the room and finally found a clock. Squinting so that she could see the time, the girl read the clock, exclaiming, "Holy shit! Zero, let go! We are going to be so totally late!"

Zero frowned in his sleep, and when he opened his eyes, they immediately traveled to the same clock Yoko was looking at. "Hmm...8:20, that's not too bad," he muttered, not relinquishing his hold on Yoko's frail body.

"Zero!" Yoko just about screamed. "We have ten minutes to get our asses to class! Let GO!" Zero did not listen, instead he tightened his hold.

"Yoko..." he muttered coolly. "Might I inform you that I set my clock an hour late? It helps me get up and get ready, for some reason, if I think I'm goin to be late."

"So?" Yoko asked, still trying to release Zero's vise grip. "You may only _need_ ten minutes to get ready, but I'm a _girl_. I take so much longer!" Zero raised an eyebrow to this.

"Zero..." Yoko said softly. "Please let go. I need to get my things out of my dorm room. Or, rather, I need to go back to my dorm room. I think my roommate might be a bit perplexed as to why I didn't sleep there last night." Zero stared down into Yoko's green eyes before sighing and letting go of her.

"Thank you," she said, standing up. Patting Zero on the head, Yoko laughed at the glare the boy sent her and then ran out of the bedroom to the door. "I'll see you at class! Try not to be late!" she shouted back, before opening the door and disappearing behind it.

Zero ran his han over his hair to flatten it where Yoko had splayed it. "Whatever," he mumbled. Sighing, he stood up and started to stretch out his aching back. After several satisfying cracks came from his spine, Zero slowly got into his daily routine for school.

-------------

Yoko closed Zero's door behind her, and then tiptoed down the hallway to the stairs. Looking both ways, Yoko softly hopped down the stairs and found herself on the 2nd floor. _Zero's only on the 3rd floor? That's weird, the 4th floor is usually reserved for the guys. Guess they ran out of room. It'd also explain why he doesn't have a roommate, I guess._

Yoko counted the doors silently until she came to her own. Her stomach lurched when she read what was on the door. Cursing softly under her breath, Yoko stomped off to the stairs once again, making sure she didn't make enough noise to wake anyone up.

-------------

Zero blinked when he heard a knock on the door. Was it Yuuki? They had just seen each oher a few hours earlier, on the last round of night watch. The boy made his way to the door and unlocked it, opening it to reveal a sheepish looking Yoko.

"I can't believe it," she deadpanned. "They put a sign on the door saying, "Night Class fangirls only." Guess I can't go in, huh?" Zero opened up the door wider, and Yoko stepped in, waiting hesitantly as Zero shut and relocked the door.

"I take it you didn't get any of your morning things?" Zero asked as he turned to look at her. Yoko shook her head wistfully, and Zero sighed. "Come on," he said. "You can use my things."

Yoko didn't know what he meant, but she followed him anyway. The two had to squeeze into the bathroom. Zero pushed Yoko over ot the sink and gave her the bottle of toothpaste that was hidden behind the warm water tap. When Yoko gave him a questioning look, he stuck out his finger and said, "Use your finger like a toothbrush. It won't work as well as a real one, but it'll get most of the morning junk off."

Yoko looked down at the toothpaste like it might jump up and bite her. Convinced the bottle was as inanimate as it could be, she flipped open the cap and squeezed a small amount of the white, minty paste out onto her finger. Wiping her finger around her teeth, Yoko spread hte toothpaste and then began to work it in, in an attempt to rid her teeth of the yellow plaque that had accumulatd overnight. Zero used his own toothbrush to brush _his_ teeth.

When Yoko spit out the toothpaste and wiped her mouth, she was surprised to feel hands running through her hair. "What are you doing?" she asked. She tried to make it sound like she was annoyed, but her voice came out a bit to squeaky for the effect to work.

"You look stupid with your hair standing straight up in places," Zero explained softly. "I'm just smoothing it down."

"Fine," Yoko sighed. She actually liked the feel of Zero's hands through her hair. "But I get to style _your_ hair."

"Stlye?" Zero asked. "I don't even run a brush through my hair in the mornings. I just let it lie flat."

"Exactly." Yoko turned so that she and Zero were facing each other. The crampedness in the bathroom made their legs and chests touch, and if Yoko's head hadn't been facing up, it would have been stuffed into Zero's shoulders. "I think you should try styling your hair today. At least let me play with it a bit," she said when she saw the doubtful look on Zero's face.

It was time for Zero to give in. "Alright, but let's go out into the bedroom, it's too close in here." Yoko agreed, and the two filed out of the bathroom.

Zero sat on the edge of the bed while Yoko sat, cross-legged behind him. Yoko ran her fingres through his silvery, wispy hair, much like he had to her. Then she lifted certain strands up and let them fall back down all on their own. Giggling, Yoko messed up her work with one hand and then smoothed Zero's hair back to its normal look with the other hand. Zero reached up and felt his hair. "You didn't do anything," he said flatly.

"Well, yeah," Yoko replied, climbing off the bed. "I said I'd play with it, but I wasn't going to change it." Yoko pointed at the clock and said, "We'd better get going, class starts soon. Zero nodded and also stood up from the bed. The two walked to their class together, without encountering anyone on the way.

------------------

Zero could not even _begin_ to suppress the sigh that came flying out of his mouth. The day had started out so well, too. Class had een been a tad bit interesting, with Yoko there to explain things he didn't understand, or even to just joke around with when the teacher hadn't been looking. The one thing Zero had been curious about, though, was Yoko's abrupt mood change. The moment she had walked into class, her voice had turned cold as steel, and her eyes betrayed no emotion.

And that same cold, unfeeling girl was the one who he had woken up with in the morning. The same caring, sharing girl who had let him have a bit of her blood when he needed it the most. It was just too weird for him to comprehend.

Zero looked on blankly as Yuuki tried to hold back a few fangirls that were trying to get autographs. They were trying so hard to get attention, yet the wooden doors that led to the Moon Dorms hadn't even opened yet. Zero really wished those girls would get lives. Then he wouldn't have to waste his listening to them rant about the ever-cool Night Class.

Zero kept his bored look as he searched the crowd. Where was she?

Suddenly the wooden doors opened, and a deafening screaming took over. Zero actually reached up and covered his ears it was so loud. Apparently, the Night Class also didn't like the noise, because Zero noticed a few of them quickened their pace.

Soon the screaming died out, and silence almost completely took over. The fangirls were busy going googly-eyed over the beautiful vampires that walked by them. One sarcastic comment carried over the wind, and caused many heads to sweep in its direct.

"Geez, could you idoitic fangirls _get_ any louder?" Zero turned and saw the very girl he had been looking for. Yoko was leaning up against the brick wall, much like the day before. The smirk on her face showed she knew what was coming next. What seemed like millions of fangirls swarmed in to her, encasing her in an unbreakable wall.

"Of course we can get louder!" One fangirl shouted. "We have so much love for the Night Class we can do anything we put our hearts to!"

"Yeah!" another piped up. "We can do anything, if it is for our beloved Night Class!"

"Oh really?" Yoko asked. Her arms were crossed, and her pose showed she was in an evil mood. The way her hips were positioned, and her back was bent backwards ever so slightly. She totally read the words _pissed off_.

"Does that mean you can go one night without any of you saying anything to the Night Class?" The entire crowd was still. Everyone was pondering the if's and and's of the bet. Slowly, people's heads began to nod. Yoko's grin relaxed a bit, and she said, 'Alright then, it's settled. Tomorrow, if even one of you _whispers _something to the Night Class, _none_ of you can even come out to see them for a whole month."

Horror settled on the fangirls' facees. A whole month? And they wouldn't even be able to _see_ their beloved idols? It was crazy talk! But everyone had agreed to the bet, so the deal was on. Slowly, girls began to slink back to their respective dorm rooms, tired and wanting rest.

When the grounds were cleared of fangirls, Yoko found herself alone with Zero and Yuuki. Although she could sense a few more peoples' presences, she could not see the people, and decided to ignore them.

"That was great!" Yuuki said. She wrapped her arms around Yoko's neck, and Yoko felt herself turning blue from lack of oxygen. Zero came to her rescue, with a simple sentence. "Yuuki, I think Yoko can't breathe."

Yuuki immediately unwrapped her arms and stared hard into Yoko's eyes, which had glazed over a bit. "Yoko, are you alright?" she asked, feeling a little bad for hugging the poor girl so tightly. Yoko blinked and shook her head yes. Yuuki's eyes lighted up and she shook the girl, excited. "Hey, Yoko, why don't you come over for dinner on Friday? Zero, Headmaster Cross, and I will all be there! Please?" Yuuki's eyes had a bit of begging in them, so Yoko just nodded her agreement.

"Yay!" Yuuki jumped away from Yoko and pulled a pair of binoculars from seemingly nowhere. "I have to go now, but I'll see you later, okay?" Yoko raised an eyebrow but nodded. Yuuki ran past the doors leading to the class area, and left Zero and Yoko alone.

Zero watched his friend run off with one of those God-she's-so-damn-crazy looks on his face. He was a bit happy Yuuki had invited Yoko to dinner, though. Zero turned to Yoko and asked her, "Are you seriously going to come to dinner with us on Friday?" he asked. Yoko looked at him with genuine amazement and asked, "Why wouldn't I? Yuuki seemed like she really wanted me to go."

Zero shrugged and mumbled, "It's just going to be hectic, is all." Yoko seemed to not have heard him.

"Zero, can we go back to the dorms now? It's getting cold outside." Yoko was standing with her arms crossed, but now she was trying to cover her arms and protect them from the cold, rather than to look cool. Zero blinked at her and asked, "Aren't you going to go back to your own dorm?"

Yoko made a face and spat out, "They added to the sign. Now, it also says, "Those who do not find the Night Class absolutely, wonderfully amazing must not enter". Now I _really_ can't go in there."

Zero found himself imaging the sign in the next few days. He supposed they'd eventually run out of room on the sign they were using, and then they put up another sign, and another, and another. Zero could have laughed at the thought of Yoko standing despairingly in front of a door covered completely in posters.

"Alright," he said. "Guess you're bunking with me again, huh?" Yoko nodded, and Zero rubbed his sore back as he turned to head to his dorm room. "That's fine with me, but tonight, let's split the bed. That cold wall wasn't the best pillow." Yoko smiled and quickly nodded in agreement, even though Zero couldn't see it because he was ahead of her.

The same eyes that Yoko had felt earlier watched the two as they walked back to the dorms. Evil plans were already hatching...

--------------------

Evil plans! Muahahha! Where the hell did _that_ come from? So now, we have two things to look forward to, and only I know how they will go! I'm sure the evil plans will start in the next chapter, alright? I'm having SO MUCH FUN writing this story! Don't forget, I love reviews!


	6. Chapter 6

I just love how I get to start out each of my chapters with that lovely, feel-good scene you can only find in the really romantic mangas!

Also, I'm really into vampires now, and I'm in the process of reading a manga called _Karin_. It's about a female vampire who has seriously major nosebleeds because her blood multiplies. Instead of drinking blood, she injetcs it into her victims! It's pretty funny, actually!

You guys rockith for revewing! Thanks to you, I had the energy to get a perfect score on my English test! Plus my extra credit, that's 105! I had the highest grade in my class, and that's a BIG class. Like, 30 some kids...really big. It's probably my biggest class, and my smallest is Science, because they put all the smart people in one class. Well, the smart people and Tyler. Tyler is Mr. Insignificant. Our teacher actually calls him that.

Shall I get on?

-------------------

Yoko was warm all over. Her arms were pulled up to her chest, and her legs were bent. She could feel another pair of legs twisted around hers, and smiled, even in her sleep. The gentle rise and fall of the person sleeping next to her threatened to lull her back into the world of (1)black sleep, but Yoko knew better. She had to get up and get ready for school, or she would be late. She was already a new student; if she was late, she'd most likely get into trouble.

Yoko sighed softly and let her forehead thud gently against Zero's back. Somehow, the two had fallen asleep on their sides, both facing to the left side of the room. Rubbing her face into Zero's back, Yoko breathed the boy's scent in deeply. Zero's breathing hitched for a moment, but then became steady again.

Trying not to wake Zero up, Yoko unwound her legs from his and slipped off of hte bed, landing on her feet as quietly as a mouse. Sneaking over to the bathroom, Yoko grabbed her uniform and quickly changed. Folding the pair of shorts and the T-shirt Zero had given her to sleep in, Yoko busied herself in getting ready for the day to come. It wasn't too long beofre Zero knocked on the door and entered, not bothering to wait for any response.

"Morning," the sleepy boy mumbled, rubbing a bit of sleep from his eyes.

"Morning," Yoko replied, slipping past Zero and out of the bathroom so that he could go to the bathroom. After checking the clock, Yoko felt back on the bed, spread-eagled. Zero came out, fully-dressed in his own uniform.

"Should we get going?" he mumbled. Yoko sat up and nodded, grabbing her books before following Zero out the door. Unlike the day before, they encountered a few students that happened to see the two exit at the same time.

Taunting whispers and catcalls came flying from both sides at the two friends. Yoko and Zero just ignored the other students. When they got outside, Yuuki was waiting for them.

"Hiya Zero! Hiya Yoko!" Yuuki's cheerful greeting recieved only grunts from Yoko and Zero. The trio walked in silence for a bit, before Yuuki began to look back and forth between Yoko and Zero.

"Hey, do you two know you're a lot alike?" Yuuki cowered at the glares she received, but continued. "I mean, you both act really cold and stuff. You barely even talk, too. And you're both really smart!" Yuuki wasn't sure if the last part was true, because she didn't know what kinds of grades Yoko was receiving. Yoko and Zero just kept walking, not sparing any words on the topic.

When the three students entered the clasroom, they were suprised to find it somewhat crowded. They took their regular seats and waited or class to start, because the teacher wasn't even in the room yet. Zero lounged in his seat, Yoko looked over her notes for an upcoming test, and Yuuki chatted pleasantly with Yori. As more students trickled in, the clas became louder, and Zero caught Yoko giving a death glare to a group of particularly loud boys.

"Alright class, sorry I'm late!" the teacher said as she swept into the room, hindered by a large, heavy bag and a handful of papers. Any students who weren't in their seats rushed to their respected spots, and the class hushed. The teacher placed the bag by her desk and sorted through the papers, pulling out a certain one.

"Okay, I have an announcement. Let's see here...where was it? Ah, yes. Today's Yoko's birthday! Congratulations, Yoko!" A few students in the class clapped politely, and a rude boy from the loudest group shouted out, "How old ya gonna be, Yoko?"

"I think there is a mistake on your paper," Yoko said calmly, hands clasped on her knees. "Today is not my birthday. In fact, my birthday is not for another 3 months."

The teacher took another look at the paper and then stared at Yoko. "But, it says specifically that today is your birthday, and that the Night Class is going to hold a special birthday party for you tonight." This last statement caused an uproar in the class, and Yoko felt her legs melting as she slid under her desk so no one could see her red face.

Zero leaned back in his chair so he could look down onto the huddled Yoko. "It's not like them to do that," he said to her. Yoko face turned a shade redder after hearing that she was a special case. "But I suppose you're stuck. All those fangirls are going to want to go to the party, if there's a chance of seeing their idols."

Yoko's head popped up above the desk. "But they made a deal with me. They can't even say a word to their _idols_." Yoko grinned evilly. The girls heard her and jaws dropped. Apparently, the girls had forgotten the deal they had made.

"Alright," the teacher sighed, "I'll check up with Mr. Kaname to see if there was a misprint. Let's start with the lesson, shall we?" Students opened books, and the room was filled with the rustling of pages. Yoko reluctantly pulled out her own book and flipped open to the appropriate page, searching in her desk for a spare piece of paper to take notes on.

--------------

"Yoko!" Yuuki cried cheerfully. "Come with me to the Night watch, kay?"

Yoko rolled her eyes and replied, "Don't I always? Besides, I think it'll be funt ot watch the silent struggle between idol and fangirl." The surrounding girls glared at Yoko evilly.

"Alright then! I can't wait for the party, can you?" Yuui changed the subject so abruptly that Yoko had to blink before she could think of a response.

"I'm not going," the taller girl said flatly. "My birthday isn't coming up for another 3 months, and even if it was today, I'd like to question how Kaname got his information."

Yuuki pouted. "You're just surprised is all!" she said, tickling Yoko on the base of the neck. Yoko shivered, that was one of her most ticklish places, but there was no way she'd break out into laughter while she was around so many students. Yuuki gasped, and Yoko gave her a questioning look.

"You know what? I bet since there's a party today, there won't be any Night classes! That means I won't have duty! Sure enough, no one was hanging aorund near the crossroads. Yoko was surprised to see the clearing so empty at this time of day.

Yoko was even more surprised when Yuuki grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the Sun Dorms. "what are you doing?" she asked angrily. Although, it's hard to sound angry when you are being tugged on so heavily.

"You have to get ready for the dance!" Yuuki laughed. "I'm takin' you back to my room, so that Yori and I can help you get ready! I can't wait to pick out your dress, and do your hair and makeup!"

Yoko made a face, but Yuuki couldn't see it. Dress? Hair? Makeup? Yoko felt a hurricane of girliness coming her way. And she doubted she would be able to get away from it.

--------------

There was a knock on Yuuki's dormroom door. Yori immediately jumped up and answered it, followed by Yuuki.

"Zero!" Yuuki wrapped her arms around her 'brother'. "You're just in time to see Yoko model her dress!"

Zero frowned. "Yuuki, why is Yoko in here, with you?"

"Oh my god! Zero!" Yoko ran out of Yuuki's room and hid behind the tall vampire. "They're trying to get me into this really, really, scary makeup!"

Yuuki and Yori pouted. "It's not that scary..." Yuuki mumbled.

Zero sidestepped so that Yoko was out of a hiding spot, and then pushed the girl back towards Yuuki and Yori. "Scary makeup or not," he said, "you have to go to this party, and if you don't hurry, we'll be late."

Yuuki grabbed Yoko by the shirt collar and grinned at Zero. "Thanks, Zero! Hey, you have to tell us what you think of her dress, okay? Wait here for a second!" Then Yuuki slammed the door.

Zero stared at the door for a moment before he leaned against the wall next to it. The young campire could only imagine what his friend would put Yoko in. Chuckling slightly, Zero realized how much Yoko really hated girly stuff. She barely even brushed her hair in the morning, much less spend tons of time on it.

Suddenly, Zero could hear muffled shouts coming from within Yuuki's room. Thuds, and then he could clearly make out, "I am NOT wearing this damn dress!"

Zero blinked and waited anxiously. The noises quieted down, and then the door flew open, making Zero jump a mile high. "Tada!" two female voices said in unison. "Presenting...Ms. Yoko Nakamura!"

Zero's jaw could have fallen off if his emotionless facade hadn't been on. Yoko was beautiful, in a slinky, black dress with spaghetti straps and a slit on the right leg that started midway down her thigh, and went all the way to the bottom of her ankle. A light layer of makeup really accented her emerald green eyes, and a simple ponytail with wispy strands of hair hanging down in her face completed Yoko's image.

"Well? What do you think?" Yuuki asked, her hands clasped together in excitement.

"I think we should be getting to the party," Zero mumbled, turning his head so that no one could see the blush creeping up onto his cheeks.

-----------------

Oh, I know that was a really bad place to stop! But, I really wanted to update. I'll have the party's events up in the next chapter! It'll be an interesting chapter, that's for sure. I know a lot of you are thinking, "Why isn't Kaname in this story, even though the love triangle involves him?" Well, the next chapter is mainly him and Yoko. This story is really so much fun to write! Um, can someone give me a cookie?

(1) Black sleep: sleep without dreams, or dreams in which the person may not remember the dream unless they have devaju. I get this type of a sleep a lot, and then I get ideas while I sit at the computer. I probably dreamed up the ideas the night before, and couldn't even remember them!

I wants a cookie _**real bad.**_


	7. Chapter 7

Alright, so this is the chapter that Kaname _really_ shows up in! I haven't showed much of him in the past chapters...he was mainly there to get Aido away from Yoko when he was sexually harassing her...evil chuckle...NO I don't have issues!

_**And now for the random word of the day:**_ _**hashbrown!**_

I don't own it, but in my dreams it is MINE...

--------------

Yoko stood awkwardly at the edge of the crowd, near the walls. She was never good with crowds, and sometimes it was hard to keep her somewhat emotionless facade on. Scanning hte crowd, she could see that most of hte fangirls had dressed up like her, with skimpy dresses and makeup, fancy hairdoes that probably took them a while to do. Shuddering, Yoko was glad that Yuuki and Yori didn't believe in lots and lots of makeup.

"Cold?" Zero asked, mistaking the girl's shudder for a shiver. The vampire was dressed in a pair of nice black slacks and the guys' formal uniform.

"No, I just don't like parties," she replied. "Too many people," Yoko added under her breath. Zero nodded knowingly.

"Hey! What are you two doing out here? Shouldn't you be out talking with the others and having a good time?" Yuuki asked. She had finally found her two friends. Yuuki was dressed in a purple, lacy, velvety dress. It looked really goo don her, and Yoko suddenly felt glad that she had gotten stuck with the plain, black dress.

"No," Yoko and Zero deadpanned in unison. "We don't even want to _be_ here," Yoko said dramatically.

The small group looked around when the quiet chattering completely stopped. Standing at the top of the staircase was none other than the dorm's leader, Kaname Kuran.

"Good evening, everyone," Kaname greeted pleasantly. The fangirls nodded, but the boys from the Day Class (and Yori), and the entire Night Class, cheered. "We come here to celebrate the Yoko Nakamura's birthday. Ms. Nakamura, would you like to tell us how old you'll be?" Kaname joked.

"16..." Yoko whispered. Zero raised an eyebrow and looked down at her.

"16, is that right?" Kaname smiled, looking directly in Yoko's direction. "Well, that means you must have 16 dances! Let me hope to be one of them! Now, everyone, please enjoy this last-minute party!" The crowd politely clapped, and then set about finding friends and other groups to talk to while music played softly in the background. Yoko figured the clower songs would be later in the day.

Kaname walked down the staircase and over to the small congregation around Yoko. Stepping right up to Yoko, he bowed and asked, "May I speak with you, Ms. Nakamura?"

Yoko shrugged awkwardly. She wasn't used to this much attention. Looking up to Zero for permission, the vampire shrugged also. Yoko took the hand that Kaname extended to her and reluctantly followed the dorm leader back up the stairs, into a large room.

"I'm sorry I had to steal you away like that," Kaname said once his bedroom door had been shut and locked (NO he's not going to do anything bad, he just wants privacy!)

"It's alright," Yoko replied bitterly. "Somehow I think I'm getting use to it."

Kaname chuckled lightly. "Please, sit down." He motioned to a luxurious couch behind Yoko. Yoko blinked and then followed his instructions, sitting hesitantly on the edge of the couch. Yoko was embarassed to find that the slit on her leg came almost all the way up to her hip when she sat down.

"So...you wanted to talk with me?" Yoko asked. She wasn't someone who could hold a comfortable conversation with a stranger.

Kaname nodded and took a seat on the couch, just to the left of Yoko. "Actually," he smirked, "I'd like to ask you a question or two."

"Please, do ask," Yoko said, her eyes watching the Night Class member suspiciously.

"I see you are getting right to the point," Kaname said, leaning into the side of the couch leisurely.

"And you're beating around the bush. Please, I'd like to get back to my friends. I'm not trying to be rude, but I'd like to enjoy the nice..._surprise_ party you set up for me."

Kaname laughed, a laugh only a tiny bit louder than his chuckle. "Oh, I didn't arrange this party. Aido did; he was the one who told me the newest girl in school was having her birthday today. Somehow he planted the idea of a birthday party in my mind."

"Remind me to thank him..." Yoko muttered grumpily.

Kaname smiled, this girl was entertaining. "Actually, I'd like to ask you about your friend."

Yoko raised an eyebrow. "Which one?"

"Zero."

"Sorry. To be honest, I don't know much about him. I just sit next to him in class." Yoko knew she was telling a huge lie. She could tell Kaname all about how Zero was a vampire, how he had sucked her blood, and how they had been sharing the same room ever since her first day at the school. But, Yoko was Zero's newest friend, and she wasn't going to tell _any_ of his secrets.

"You know that's not true..." Kaname stated softly. Yoko froze; did he know what she did?

"Why don't you tell me what _you_ know, and then I'll just judge what to tell you," Yoko offered.

Kaname shook his head no after a moment's thought, and then look towards the ceiling. "Ms. Nakamura, do you believe in monsters?"

"I don't see why not."

Kaname chuckled. "That's a yes or no answer. Monsters, believe it or not, do exist. And to say you believe in them means you acknowledge their presence."

Yoko raised an eyebrow. "You might as well be specific. There are some monsters that just are hard to believe exist. And then, there are others that we have proof. Like, vampires for instance?"

It was Kaname's turn to freeze. He shot his head in Yoko's direction and hissed, "I hope you know what you're getting into."

Yoko was emotionless. If anything, she looked bored. "I assure you, I've gotten deep enough into the issue."

"Any deeper and you might just never see the light again."

Yoko frowned. "Mr. Kuran, I don't see what this has to do with you. The people I know and spend my time with--"

"Are most likely vampires, am I right?" Kaname cut her off.

"No! Those people are none of your business!" Yoko snapped.

Kaname edged closer to Yoko. Yoko tried her best to keep a defiant look on her face, but she felt it slipping as Kaname leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I take it...you know about Zero?" Yoko took in a sharp breath, and Kaname chuckled softly. Yoko frowned; the older boy's breath was tickling her ear.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kaname said as he pulled back, but he still kept his face close to hers. Reaching up a hand, Kaname rubbed Yoko's neck. Yoko shivered, Kaname's fingers were cold, and they brushed against her skin mercilessly. Yoko prayed that the boy didn't find her bite marks. Or, had they already faded away? Yoko hadn't had time to look closely in a mirror.

Yoko was startled when Kaname's hand stopped and he asked harshly, "You let him bite you, didn't you?"

"I told you, it's not your busi--"

"Foolish girl!" Kaname's hand came up and lightly slapped Yoko on the cheek. This girl was so reckless! She wasn't listening, either. How could he get it through to her? "You have no idea what you're putting yourself in just by hanging around that mongrel!"

"Don't call him that!" Yoko felt her cheek, but her anger covered the pain. "Zero's not a mongrel! You're the mongrel, just for calling him that!"

Kaname bared his teeth, and it was then when Yoko noticed the overly-large canines hanging over his bottom lip. She put two and two together. All his knowledge on vampires...his fangs...

"You're a vampire?" she whispered incredulously.

"Are you just now noticing?" Kaname's voice was scathingly sharp.

Yoko's smart-ass nature took over. She would _not_ be talked to like this. "You know what?" she shouted, standing up from the couch and pointing an accusing finger at Kaname, "Yes! I am _just now _getting this! And you can't do a thing about it, so don't say pointless things!"

Kaname took striding steps over to Yoko and covered her mouth with his hand. "You're _too loud_," he hissed. "Someone might hear you."

Yoko bit Kaname's hand and said, "Like I give a fuck! Let them hear!" That was all she could get out before Kaname's hand covered her mouth again. Yoko's eyes grew wide when the vampire's head lowered towards her neck, and his mouth opened to reveal glistening fangs.

Kaname was just about to bite into Yoko's neck when there was a knock at the door. "Kaname! Kaname, can we have Yoko back? She's missing all the good dances!"

--------------

Okay! _Another_ bad place to stop! Kudos to anyone who can guess which female voice that was! Please tell everyone you know about this story! It's in third place, and I want to get it into at least second.


	8. Chapter 8

It looks like **wierdchick 0 **was the only one to guess the correct female voice. I thought about tricking you guys, but that's too much work. LOL, I'm so lazy. So, anyway, I came up with another idea for a story. Why is Naruto so easy to write about? Anyway, it IS a yaoi fic, and the pairings are Sasuke and Itachi. Can't really remember the plot, otherwise I'd explain it to you guys, but I'm bad at writing things down (as most of you know), and always forget things, only to have them come back a moment later in the most absurd of ways.

It's gonna be loverly to write, I can just imagine it.

On the other hand, I'm having tons-o-fun writing my DNAngel fic, cause I get it down in English class, since I'm the smartest kid in there. I'm the ONLY person who got a 100 on there English test the other day, so I got to work on my fic while everyone else went over their tests. Rockin'! I LOVE Mrs. Wallmann, she's a great teacher.

Disclaimer: I just felt like wasting more time before the actual chapter, but I actually DON'T own it. Amazing, right?

-------------

Yoko's breath escaped her as Zero left her to open the door. That had been a close call. So...he was a vampire? How many other people at this damned academy were vampires?

Yoko was barely listening to Yuuki's chattering. The prefect was talking happily with her idol, not even noticing how disturbed and out of focus he seemed.

"So...you'll be coming down later, right?" Yuuki asked hopefully.

"Eh?" kaname asked, broken from his trance. "Oh, of course. I'll be down in a few mintues. Ms. Yoko," Kaname turned to face the girl, "Why don't you go with Yuuki?"

"I was planning on it," Yoko said curtly. Her smartass attitude still hadn't worn off completely, and the shock of learning Kaname's secret was long gone. In reality, she hadn't been very shocked when she learned about Zero, either. Yuuki walked past Kaname and joined Yuuki out in the dorm hall.

"See ya in a few, Kaname!" Yuuki said beforing pulling Yoko down the stairs to the dance floor.

A small group of people were waiting for Yoko at the bottom of the stairs. They were mainly Day Class students, but a few Night Class students were hanging nonchalantly around.

"I requested a slow song for you two," Yori said. Raising her eyebrow, Yoko wondered what the girl meant by "you two". As if reading her mind, Yori elaborated, "You have to have 16 dances, because you're turning 16, right? Well, Zero's just _got_ to be one of them."

Yoko blinked and looked for the vampire. He was leaning against the wall where the group had been earlier. Sensing her eyes on him, Zero turned his head to look at his observer. Yoko blushed, and turned away. "Why Zero?" she muttered.

"Because!" Yuuki said cheerfully. Yoko was beginning to wonder if the girl took caffeine pills to stay that peppy. "Zero's like a brother to me, and we all can tell he likes you!"

"W-what?" Yoko stuttered. Her ears immediately turned a bright shade of red, and her cheeks were flushed beyond reason. "Y-you can't j-just tell! B-besides, y-you don't have any p-proof!"

"Oh really?" Yuuki was giving Yoko and unbelieveably evil look. "We'll just see how he acts when you two dance! Speaking of which..." The song Yori had requested came on, and Yoko's cheeks became flushed again. As if on cue, out of the corner of her eye, Yoko could see Zero stand up straight and head in their direction.

"Eh? What do I do, what do I do?" she asked, panicking. Yoko hadn't had much..._experience_...with dances before.

"Just say "Yes," when he asks you to dance," Yori told her calmly.

"You make it sound so easy," Yoko hissed as Zero came up behind her.

"Yoko." Yoko jumped when Zero's hesitant hand was placed on her shoulder. She spun around, coming face-to-face with the vampire. Automatically, she noticed how anxious and nervous he looked, and uncomfortable too.

"Yes?" she asked sweetly, as though she hadn't known he was going to ask her to dance.

"Um...would you...like to, dance?" Zero's face was a dull red, and Yoko smiled, taking the hand he offered to her. Zero led her out onto the dance floor, and they turned to face each other.

"Do you know how to dance?" Yoko whispered, leaning in so that he could hear her, eyes showing she was completely serious. Zero blushed again before shaking his head no. "Me neither," Yoko said, a little louder, this time with a laugh.

Zero looked at the couples dancing around him. Copying a comfortable looking group, he wordlessly placed his hands on Yoko's waist. The girl was surprised, but she too copied a nearby couple, and reached up to clasp her hands around Zero's neck. It didn't help that he was so much taller than her. The two slowly swayed to the beat of the music, and aagainst her will, Yoko felt her eyelids drooping.

"What's wrong?" Zero asked when he saw Yoko struggling to stay awake. Yoko just shook her head to clear it, but then - almost like a sugar crash - her head came back down to rest on Zero's chest.

"Eh? Yoko?" Zero asked. His ears had turned red again, and he tapped Yoko on the shoulder discreetly to get her to look up at him.

"I'm sleepy, shut up." Yoko's response startled Zero, and he had to stiffle the laughter coming up his throat. The silver-haired boy let Yoko rest against him, knowing fully well that she wouldn't be able to do this with any other boy she danced with.

A minute or two later, the song ended, and Zero pulled away from Yoko. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders and pulled her off the dance floor, so that other people could take their place. Yuuki and Yori were giggling when Zero dragged the half-asleep brunette over to the girls.

"I don't think she got enough sleep last night," the boy said almost emotionlessly, though there was a twinkle of amusement in his eye. Yori nodded sympathetically, and Yuuki was trying to wake up the sleeping girl.

"Damn, damn, damn," Yoko said, rubbing her eyes. "What the hell is with this stupid, idiotic..." Yoko saw all of her friends looking down at her and squeaked. "The hell! Did I just fall asleep while I was _dancing_?"

Yuuki muffled a laugh with her hand and nodded. "Zero commented on your sleeping habits, as if he'd know!" Zero threw a sheepish look at Yoko, but she only laughed.

"Oh, no! It doesn't really matter how much sleep I get, I fall asleep at the oddest moments, even if I'm not tired! Like, one time I fell asleep on a rollercoaster at my 8th birthday!" Yoko laughed awkwardly, remembering waking up to the screaming of the other people on the coaster. "It's just some weird condition I have, but I don't even know if it has a name or if it's treatable or whatever. It rarely ever pops up, so I don't really care about it much!" Yoko grinned at the other people around her. "Just one of those grin and bear it things!"

Yuuki gave Yoko a quirky look and said, "That is weird, but I guess it fits you, huh?" Yoko, Yuuki, and Yori laughed at the joke, and Zero just had to think that it did _indeed_ fit the girl perfectly.

"Oh, hey that was my first dance, right?" Yoko asked. "Yay! One down, 15 more to go!"

Yori gave Yoko a sympathetic look. "You really want to leave, don't you?" she asked. Yoko nodded her head vigorously, dances were definitely not her thing. Besides, she had just learned a big secret of Kaname's that she wanted to ponder over in silence. Unfortunately, any chance she had of sneaking away to find a nice, silent spot was shattered when Aido walked up.

"Hello, Ms. Yoko," he said, smiling brilliantly at her. The vampire bowed, and Yoko gave him a bewildered look. "I'd just like to say Happy, Birthday, and--"

"It's not my birthday," Yoko just had to point out. Aido smiled and stood up to his regular height.

"Yes, well, birthday or not, you should be enjoying the evening. I must leave soon, and wanted to ask for a quick dance before I go." Aido's smile chilled Yoko for some unknown reason, but she found herself taking the hand the older boy held out to her. Aido led the girl out to the edge of the dance floor, and he immediately placed his hands on her waist, not giving in to hesitation. Yoko waited for a moment, unsure, but she settled on resting her hands on Aido's shoulders. She had been more comfortable with Zero, so she had clasped her hands behind his neck, but with Aido, she held him at more of a distance.

"What did Kaname talk with you about?" Aido asked softly, attempting a conversation.

"That's..." Yoko didn't know how to respond. She settled on, "That's our business, and besides, I don't think he'd like anyone to know unless he told them himself."

Aido was satisfied with the girl's answer. He hadn't known Kaname would reveal his vampiric being, and Aido was only testing Yoko to see if she would let the secret leak out. But, apparently, she was reluctant to tell anyone, and Aido confirmed that the secret was safe. He only wished he had been in the room to see the brunette's reaction. "It's alright, I already know," he told her with a wink.

Yoko blinked and felt her mouth open a little in wonder. How many people had Kaname trusted with his dark secret? Without even thinking, her hand reached up and touched Aido at the corner of the mouth, as if asking for him to open his mouth. Aido complied, and Yoko could see the vampire fangs hanging from the sides of his mouth. "You're one too?" she stated rather flatly.

Aido grinned, and leaned in to whisper, "Not only me, but the whole entire Night Class. And, of course, your precious Zero."

Yoko frowned at the possession in Aido's voice. "He's not _my_ Zero," she said defiantly. "And as for the secret, how have you kept it from getting out? How many other people know? Does Headmaster Cross know?"

Aido laughed at Yoko's questions. "The only other people who know are Zero, Yuuki, and yes, Headmaster Cross knows. He's the one who lets us stay at this academy, because he believes that humans and vampires can leave in peace together. This dance sort of proves it, doesn't it?" Aido had lowered his voice quite a bit now. "Yuuki and Zero are not only prefects, but they protect our secret by keeping the fangirls away from us when the class shifts are over."

"I see," Yoko said. So much information! She was going to be mulling over quite a bit by the end of the night. Maybe she wouldn't even sleep that night.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Aido asked gently, breathing into Yoko's ear. The vampire fingered a lock of the girl's hair that had found it's way out of her ponytail.

"Of course not!" Yoko raised her voice, and then immediately lowered it. Aido smirked, and then gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Well then, I better be going!" the vampire said, leaving a dazed and confused Yoko behind him as he disappeared into the crowd.

_He. Is. DEAD!_ Yoko thought, even though she knew it wasn't true. Great. _Another_ thing to ponder. The list just kept building!

--------------

Poor Yoko! sniffle Getting kissed like that! Just to tell you, the next chapter will be a time jump to Friday, the day Yoko eats dinner with Headmaster Cross and his "children"! It's going to be very interesting, as things so mishap!

Just a quick question, have any of you ever heard the song, "Only Hope" by Mandy Moore, or there's another version of it by Switchfoot. I love both versions, and just the song period! I'm listening to it right now, and I'm thinking of putting it in the next chapter. It might just work. Just to say, it's going in at a romantic area of the chapter, so any of you think it'll work? Just like the words and stuff?

Anyway, please review and tell me what you think about the chapter and song and stuff! If you haven't heard it, try to get the version of it by Mandy Moore first, because that's the version I'm going to use, if i do. I'd bet you could find it online on yahoo music or something.


	9. Chapter 9

Feh. I'm. So. TIRED! I feel like I haven't slept in days, and my feet hurt from walking around two different malls! But, I got some really good smelling Japanese cherry blossom hand lotion and the Vampire Knight volume 2! Seriously, that's all I bought. But, hey, I'm still saving for my trip to Japan, so I can't really complain.

I decided not to do the songfic idea, because like, nobody posted whether they wanted it or not, so I guess nobody wanted it. Oh, and after rereading volume 2, I realized how badly off-character Zero was, and I'll try to get him back into the stoic bastard we all know and love.

Don't forget, this is the time skip to Friday, the day Yoko eats dinner with Headmaster Cross, Yuuki, and Zero!

----------damn0.0---------------

Yoko fiddled nervously in her booth seat at the small diner they were eating in. She, Headmaster Cross, and Yuuki had come here on a whim, because none of them had visited there before. Of course, Yoko had never even been in the town before, but that wasn't the point. And so, Yoko found herself nervously listening to the banter across the table from her.

"Um, excuse me," the waitress said, trying to get a word in between Yuuki and her adoptive father. "May I please take your orders?"

Yoko gave the girl a sympathetic look. "I'm just going to have a salad," she said, kicking Yuuki under the booth to get her attention.

"Huh? Oh, I'm going to have a salad too, but I want a milkshake to go with it!" Yuuki grinned sheepishly; milkshakes were her ultimate weakness when it came to food.

"And I shall have a bowl of chicken noodle soup!" Headmaster Cross declared enthusiastically.

"Alright then," the waitress said, writing all their orders down. "They'll be here in a minute!"

Yoko thanked the waitress and turned to Yuuki. "So, why couldn't Zero come with us tonight?" she asked nonchalantly.

Yuuki and her father exchanged glances. "Um, he offered to complete an errand I needed to have done," the Headmaster uttered softly. Yoko made an "o" with her mouth, and then shrugged.

"Why'd you want to know?" Yuuki teased. She knew Zero had feelings - even if they were miniscule and hard to detect - for the brunette sitting across the table from her. Yoko blushed a dull shade of red, before putting her defenses back up to their maximum and stated with a defiant face, "I was just wondering! You probably cared too when you found out he wouldn't be coming!"

Yuuki laughed - Yoko was right - and then jumped when her dad's ringtone went off. Headmaster Cross looked apologetically at the two girls before leaving the booth and stepping outside to answer his cell phone. When Yuuki and Yoko craned their necks, they could both see him, standing outside with his phone to his ear, a semi-serious expression on his face.

"Wonder who it is," Yoko said out loud as she sat back down into her seat. Yuuki turned away too, though she was a bit disturbed at the face her father was making.

"No clue, but maybe we'll find out. He's coming back right now." Yuuki nodded her head towards the door, and a smal bell rang as the silver-haired man stepped back inside. _That didn't take long..._

"Yuuki, darling, it appears we are needed by a friend of mine. Yoko, dear, I hate to say this, but is it possible for you to make it back to the academy by yourself?" Headmaster Cross gave both girls cheery smiles, and both consented. "Unfortunately, we have to leave right now, so we won't be able to enjoy our meal. Come Yuuki. Goodbye, Yoko! It was nice talking with you!"

And with that, Yoko found herself alone.

Placing a twenty on the table for the uneaten food, Yoko slipped out of the restraunt and walked off in the direction she had come from. For a moment, she contemplated shopping a bit before she went back to the academy - not that she'd actually buy anything - but the idea went right out of her mind. It was the tiny voice in her head that said it wasn't nice to hang around; not to mention she'd be disobeying the Headmaster's orders in an indirect way.

Yoko walked down the streets with her hands in her pockets, glancing casually at the booths she passed. She would meander a bit, but she wouldn't actually stop. The crown parted for her unconsciously, just as she moved out of the way for several people who seemed to be in a hurry.

Slowly, the number of booths and buildings dwindled in size, and Yoko found herself walking alone down a path leading to a bunch of warehouses. She was taking the back way to the academy so that she could avoid all of the annoying, loud crowds. As she walked, Yoko peered down each of the alleys seperating the warehouses. Empty. Empty. Dark, lank, and smelly, but still empty.

_Hm? What was that_? Yoko stopped in her tracks to stare down the only non-empty alley. There was a figure there, laying on the ground, leaning against the warehouse behind them. In the fading light, Yoko could barely make out any special physical features, but there was something shining on the person's chest. It reflected in the light from a streetlight a few warehouses down.

"Hello? Are you alright?" Yoko asked timidly. The person was slumped over so that she could not see their face, and hands lay useless on either side of the body. Cursing the lack of light, Yoko squinted to make out the shallow rise and fall of the person's chest. At least they weren't dead. Taking a step closer, Yoko asked again, "Um, excuse me, are you okay?"

No response. Yoko frowned and took a few more steps, until she was standing at the entrance to the alley. The person was only a few yards away, and Yoko blinked to make sure she hadn't just imagined the shocking, silver hair. Convinced the person was not going to wake up and start strangling her, Yoko stepped confidently up to the body and crouched down to lift their face.

"Z-Zero?" Yoko asked, shocked. The vampire was unconscious, and Yoko tried waking him by shaking his shoulders. "Zero! Wake up!"

A weak hand shot up and attempted to knock Yoko's hand away. Her hand fell and rested on the boy's chest, but Yoko couldn't help but get a sinking feeling when she grasped the wet cloth of his academy uniform. Unclasping the cloth from her grasp, Yoko rasied her hand and looked at it. Immediately, she wiped the red substance onto her pants, sickened. "Zero," she whispered," are you bleeding?"

Gently, Yoko unbuttoned the buttons on Zero's school jacket. Pulling it back with as much tenderness and care as she could muster, Yoko gasped and almost started crying when she saw the terrible gash running from the boy's right shoulder, all the way down to his left hip. "Oh my God," she whispered. Frantically, Yoko tried to remember what she should do in these sorts of cases. She really had no way to clean the wound unless she ran all the way back into town to get help, but she didn't want to leave Zero for that long. Plus, she couldn't take him with her. He probably weighed twice as much as she did if he weighed as much as any other teenage boy, and Yoko didn't want to move him in case she jostled his injury.

Cursing, Yoko did the only other thing she needed to do. Ripping off a length of her skirt hem, Yoko ran the material the length of Zero's wound and pressed against it lightly. Hopefully, the pressure would help to stop the bleeding, and Yoko didn't trust to use the boy's dirty jacket as makeshift bandages, in case the wound got infected.

Zero stirred slightly under Yoko's caring ministrations. Yoko's heart skipped a beat, but when the boy didn't say or do anything else, she continued halfheartedly doing her job.

Thinking quickly, Yoko wondered what might've happened to make Zero lose so much blood. Headmaster Cross had said he was sent on an errand, but...

Yoko's eyes widened. _No way! Headmaster Cross wouldn't send Zero on a dangerous mission on purpose, would he? That doesn't sound like it would fall under the category of an "errand". But really, what happened to Zero to make him this vulnerable? God, he must have lost so much blood already. I need to replenish it, and quickly!_

Without thinking, Yoko left her spot by Zero and scouted for a nicely-sized rock. Finding one, she took it to the end of the alleyway and threw it against one of the warehouse windows. A loud shattering sound was heard, and then Yoko rushed forward to dislodge a small piece of glass from its windowsill.

Running back over to Zero, Yoko knelt down and closed her eyes tightly. In one swift, fluid, movement, the girl drew the glass over her left wrist and pressed her wrist up to Zero's mouth, She wiggled her wrist into the boy's mouth so that the blood ran down onto his tongue. Yoko opened her eyes and threw the glass away against the opposite wall to rid herself of the offending object.

Zero gratefully accepted the boy she gave him, and as he drank more and more, he slowly began to stir. Never opening his eyes, the vampire went as far as to latch himself onto Yoko's wrist with his teeth so that he would not miss any of the precious crimson liquid. Yoko just watched, waited, and bled as Zero's strength unknowingly returned.

By the time Zero had had as much as his body would take, Yoko had fallen into a light slumber induced by blood loss. Smiling in her dreams, Yoko was glad to know she had helped her friend. Yoko was just one of those people who would do anything - even give their life - to protect and help their loved ones.

A figure appeared at the entrance to the alleyway, taking in the two figures with cold, unmoved eyes. _Those idiots...when shall they ever learn?_

-------------------

Um...never! XD Kudos to anyone who can guess the identity of the figure.

Anybody else seriously depressed after reading this? It didn't have the whole goth/emo/drama/tragedy look I was going for, but hey, I gave it my best! Guess my best shall never be good enough...


	10. Chapter 10

ducks Don't kill me! I'm really, really, REALLY sorry I haven't updated in so long, but I didn't have time and stuff, so, yeah. I'm all hyped up on Halloween candy though, so maybe something productive shall come out of tonight.

I don't own ANYTHING, but hey, neither do you! HAHA! We should make a club...

-----club-----

Yoko groaned softly in her head. Her lips were stuck together, and she opened and closed them to release them. A soft rythym lulled her into falling back asleep, but then she realized that she was _hanging_ off of something.

Opening her eyes fully, Yoko bit her lip and tightened her grasp of the person's neck. She was riding piggyback style on someone's back, arms around their neck and legs tightened at the knees, instead of crossing them across the person's front. She fancied herself to be riding a horse, the way she pushed in with her knees to avoid from falling off of the back.

That was, until she figured out who's back she was riding on.

"Ouch!" Yoko released her grip and slid down, landing on the ground with a soft thud. Yoko looked up and stared at the face of her escort.

"Glad to see you're awake, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to banish you from getting another ride. You have a great strength, and I'm glad you awoke before you strangled me," the deep, calm voice of Kaname Kuran said. He held out one hand to help Yoko up, the other busy holding an unconscious Zero up. Yoko took the vampire's hand and tugged lightly until she was back on her feet.

"What are you doing here?" Yoko mumbled, not really expecting an answer. She took one look at Zero and went to his other side, helping to support him. The poor silver-haired boy was still weak, and though his body reacted to the movement with shaky steps, the boy couldn't be more knocked out.

"I got a report about two vampires fleeing a warehouse district, both injured badly. I sent Shiki after the vampires, but when I didn't get an information on Zero, I had to come find him myself. I wasn't expecting you to fall into the picture."

"Yeah, well, I was expecting to find Zero almost dead in an alley between two empty, abandoned warehouses, but hey. Life isn't supposed to be all by the rules." Yoko muttered, supporting Zero's heavy weight as much as she could. "We need to get Zero back to his dorm room," she continued, talking to herself more than to Kaname. "I can clean him up properly there, and we can get him into a pair of clean clothes. DAMN! Shit! What about...oh hell! Mother fuckin'--"

"You have a very colorful vocabulary," Kaname interrupted, amusement twinkling in his eyes. Yoko snapped her head up to glare at the older boy, and Kaname resisted the urge to chuckle.

"Yeah, well, it might just help _you_ to have a bit more color among your reds and blacks," Yoko threw back. Kaname lifted an elegant eyebrow at her, and Yoko looked away from him. She glanced up the road they were traveling, noticing that they were taking the back entrance to the school. She could already see the Moon Dorms sticking up into the moonlit sky. "Are we almost there?" She asked, even though she knew the answer.

Kaname glanced down at the girl, as though he seemed to know what she was thinking. "Anxious to get him back, aren't you? You shouldn't worry too much; with the amount of blood you gave him, he'll be practically perky come morning." Yoko frowned, exaggerated her look at Zero's staggering body, and then looked back up at Kaname.

"Somehow I doubt that. Zero's _never_ perky, extra blood or not. Besides, he's barely able to walk right now, and I bet he'll have one helluva headache when he wakes up." Yoko laughed a tiny bit, humoring the notion of Zero in chibi form, dancing around his dorm room acting "perky".

"Yes, well, he can take a few Tylenol when we get back to the Moon Dorms. I know where there's a brand new, unopened bottle." Kaname's voice was sarcastic.

"He's not going back to the Moon Dorms," Yoko said softly. "I'm going to take him back to his own dorm room, with or without your help."

Kaname gave Yoko a scathing look. "Do you really think you can do that?" he asked. "You don't even have the key, and I bet you have no clue which room it is."

Yoko stopped in her tracks and reached her hand into Zero's right pocket, the one that was closest to her. Pulling out her hand, Yoko grinned and opened her palm, showing off a tiny, silver key. "How much do you want to bet that I know where the room is? Don't bet much, cause I've been stayin' there just about every night this week. Hold on, scratch that. I've been there _every_ night this week. It's amazing what fangirls will do to keep you out of your own dorm room, huh?" Yoko twirled the key on its keyring around her middle finger, obviously gloating in her small victory.

"You've been staying with Kiryu?" Kaname asked, the shock seeping past his emotionless facade. "Does Headmaster Cross know this?"

"Nope. I would have told him, but it never came up in conversation," Yoko replied nonchalantly, continuing to walk with Zero's weight. They were now past the school gates, and were heading down the path to the Sun Dorms. Supposedly, Kaname was going to follow Yoko's lead on this one.

"I suppose it's fine, as long as you two haven't done anything inappropriate," Kaname mused. Yoko seemed to bristle slightly as she listened to him talking to himself.

"Listen, I hope you aren't planning on sticking around once we get Zero to his dorm, cause I'm not even going to let you in," Yoko said, her voice full of confidence she didn't know she had. Kaname raised an eyebrow to this, and smiled a sadistic little smile.

"How are you going to get Kiryu into his bed, so that you can take care of him? You can't support his entire weight; you're just a little girl. Not to mention you're going to need someone to get him dressed for you, unless you'd rather do it _yourself_..."

Yoko's face turned a bright red, and she muttered something that Kaname couldn't make out. Kaname held up Zero while Yoko opened the doors to the dorm, and then they helped the unconscious boy up all of the stairs. Luckily, it was late at night, and no one was roaming the corridors. Kaname took Zero's weight once more when Yoko unlocked his dorm room, and then the three students entered, Yoko closing the door behind them.

"Just set him down on the bed until I find him a pair of pants. I'm going to need to wash the wounds on his chest, so he can't wear a shirt just yet, but maybe once I bandage it you can slip one on him..." Yoko told Kaname as they entered the shared bedroom. Yoko immediately jogged over to the dresser, rummaging through the drawers Zero kept his clothes in. Pairing out a pair of baggy, black sweats, she threw them at Kaname, who caught the pants with a flick of his elegant wrists. Yoko walked across the room to the bathroom. "I'll get the supplies out that we'll need; just tell me when you're ready." Kaname nodded, and Yoko closed the door, already on her quest for a first-aid kit.

A few minutes later, Kaname knocked lightly on the bathroom door, and Yoko opened it, exiting with a flourish, her arms laden with bandages, antiseptic, washcloths, and a small cup she had filled with warm water. It was the same cup she had filled with water when Zero had had his coughing fit. Kaname watched curiously as Yoko sat her materials down on the bed where Zero was now lying, clad in only the black sweatpants. Yoko tutted in disapproval and wetted a washcloth, ringing it out before starting on the blood smeared over the vampire's chest.

"Don't just stand there gawking, help me," the smart-assed girl threw at Kaname. The elder vampire flinched, afraid in the tiniest sense that his senses might over come him, and he might try to drink Kiryu's blood. It was unlikely, but it could happen to any vampire. "Damnit Kuran, get your ass over here and help me!" Resigning to his fate, Kaname walked the small distance to the bed and helped Yoko disinfect Zero's wounds, most of which looked worse than they really were.

Sighing lightly to themselves, both students' thoughts centered on how it would be a _long _night...

---sigh---

Zero ached when he woke up the next morning. His chest hurt like hell, and his head had a dull pounding sensation that would switch on and off periodically. What was odd was that he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. Not only that, but he wasn't in the alley he had fought those _demons_ in. Instead, he could feel the soft fluff of a nice, warm, comforter. Just where was he?

Opening his eyes, Zero grimaced at the amount of sunlight coming in from the windows. Looking around, he realized with a jolt that he was in his own room. Staring down at his bare chest, Zero wondered when he had changed into his old, black sweatpants he had worn for gym every winter. He couln't remember _anything_...

And it was really pissing him off.

Zero groaned and swung his legs slowly to the side of the bed, fully knowing that if he tried to stand he would just be forced to sit back down again. His interest was perked, however, when his legs hit something solid. Leaning over so that he could see over the edge of the bed, Zero was surprised to see a sleeping Yoko huddled on the ground. The girl was curled up into a small ball, head resting on her hands, legs tucked in neatly. Her face was peaceful, and her features were soft in the early morning light.

"She's cute when she's sleeping, isn't she?" a soft voice came from the corner of the room. Zero tensed and searched out the familiar voice, ready to spring into action at any moment. "Much more tranquil than when she's awake and cursing any moving object."

"Kuran, what the hell are you doing here?" Zero growled, his voice cracking from neglect and dehydration. Nonetheless, it sounded somewhat intimidating.

Kaname held up his hands in peace, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Just waiting for one of you two to wake up so I could leave."

"Then leave," Zero was still growling.

Kaname nodded and stood up from the chair he had been sitting in. He walked towards the door leading to the main room, ready to take his leave, but he stopped almost as an after thought. Nodding his head to Yoko, he said seriously, "That girl did a lot to help you. I'd thank her if I were you." Then, the next moment, the eldest of the three in the room left in a silent fashion.

Zero stared fondly down at the girl he had almost stepped on. She_ had _helped him, and in more ways than one. She was one of those special people, like Yuuki, who always knew what to do to cheer him up, or always knew what to say next.

Yes, Yoko was a _very _special person to him.

But how could he show her that?

Zero stood up, making sure to step around Yoko. Stretching slightly, Zero flinched when his muscles protested at the movement. Gazing down once more at Yoko, he bent down, lifted the girl in his arms, and set her down on the bed as though she weighed no more than a small bag of flour. Kissing the girl on the cheek, Zero disappeared into the bathroom, ready to start his morning ritual and get ready for a boring Saturday.

Yoko stirred when she was picked up in strong arms she knew so well, and was passive when she felt soft lips upon her cheek. She knew, oh yes. She knew...

----it was love----

Kay, plz don't kill me! I know, this was short, but hey. I was really focusing on my Spirited Away fanfic! Also, I know I haven't updated in a while, and I feel really bad about that too. Just review, please!


	11. Chapter 11

Guess what? I think I can grind out a wonderful chapter! Eh? What's that? It BETTER be wonderful or you'll kill me? Yeah, I thought so. So, without further ado, I give you, um...the next chapter. I guess.

---I BE A CEREAL KILLER!---

When Yoko awoke, she felt odd. It was much too quiet in the room, and all she could hear was her own breathing. She could feel the light pressure of blankets draped over her form, and her legs stretched as she released the hold she had had them in. Yawning, she sat up in the bed she couldn't remember falling asleep in, and took a look around. She was still in the dorm she shared with Zero, but the silver-haired boy was nowhere to be seen. It tooka moment for her to realize that Zero was not there. _Zero was not there_.

"OH MY GOD! ZERO!" Yoko yelled, flinging the blankets off of her legs, not caring that her skirt had been hitched up way past her thighs. She had forgotten to change the night before, or rather, had not wanted to, because Kaname had refused to leave, and Yoko didn't want the two boys to be alone, even if it only took her a minute to get dressed. Frantic, she ran around the dorm, looking in every nook and cranny, hoping to find Zero there. She was even stupid enough to look under the bed, even though she knew very well that Zero couldn't fit under there. Heck, even _she _couldn't fit under there.

"Zero, oh my fucking...Zero!" Yoko called again, but it was now quite obvious that the boy was not in the dorm. Flinging open the door and slamming it shut behind her, Yoko ran out of the dorm room and down the corridors, flying down dozens of stairs, and zipping out of the Sun Dorm doors as fast as she could. She didn't know where Zero went on Saturdays (or rather Sundays, but an announcement had been posted that school lessons had been canceled today), so she had no idea where to look for him. The only thing that mattered was that he was injured and HE HAD LEFT WITHOUT TELLING HER! That went right under "unforgivable" in her book" Or, in Zero's case, close to unforgivable, because the boy hardly liked to tell others his plans.

"Zero, Zero!" she called again and again. She didn't even realize it, but Yoko was heading right to the Moon Dorms. Running past the gate once she got it open, down the path, through the Moon Dorm doors, and right into another person.

"Ouch! I'm sorry!" Yoko said, backing up and trying to get around the other person she had just run into. A hand reached out and grabbed her by the arm, though, stopping her in her frantic quest for her friend.

"That's a bit rude, don't you think?" a silky voice asked. Yoko growled and looked up into the charming face of Hanabusa Aido.

"Sorry_ Idol_, but I'm in a bit of a rush today. Let go!" Yoko tried to wrestle her arm out of Aido's grasp, but the boy's hand was stronger, and the more she tried to get away, the more pressure he applied, until it began to hurt. "Let go!" Yoko tried again, but she eventually gave up. Her muscles ached from where Aido had squeezed them, and she was sure she'd have a nice bruise later.

"Why are you so hassled this early in the morning?" Aido asked smoothly. He trailed a finger down Yoko's arm, with a silent warning that if she tried to leave without answering his question, her arm would be in his grasp once more.

"I can't find someone," Yoko replied, and then turned to ascend the stairs of the Moon Dorms. Again, Aido held her back, but his grip was much softer.

"Why don't I help you?" Aido asked, a command rather than a question.

"I don't need your help," Yoko scowled, and she tore away from the vampire, jogging up the steps with renewed vigor. She had been to the room she was searching for before, so she had an idea of where it was. Picking out the telltale door, she knocked loudly and waited, hands on hips, for the person behind the door to open it.

"May I help you?" Kaname said calmly, peering our from the haven of his dark room. He was a bit startled to see the frenzied girl standing on the other side of his threshold, and even more startled when that same girl grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and raised a fist threateningly.

"Yes, you can. Where's Zero? What'd you do to him?" Yoko asked in one breath, her fist shaking slightly as she waited to hear the vampire's answer.

Kaname sighed and pushed Yoko off of him. "I don't know where your precious Zero is. And I sure as hell didn't do anything _to_ him." Yoko was a bit stunned when she heard the vampire swear, but she didn't let it hold her down.

"Are you sure? What about your classmates, could _they _have done something?"

Kaname was clearly angered. With a swift motion, he slapped Yoko across the cheek, much like he had at her "birthday" party. Yoko felt the sting, but she didn't reach up a hand to baby the red skin of her cheek. She would take the consequences of her actions without any sign of remorse. "My classmates and fellow vampires would _never_ do such a foul thing as tampering with another person's life," Kuran retorted, and then slammed the door to his dorm shut. Yoko stood out in the hall, ignoring the curious looks she was getting, and then remembered her search for her silver-haired friend.

Running down the hall and almost tripping on the stairs, Yoko passed by several of the vampires without difficulty, and then she was back in the warm, bright sunlight once more. Who else could she look to? The girl sighed and started walking down the path to the Moon Dorm's gate. Maybe she would just take a walk around outside. Sometimes the answer would just hit her if she was calm and patient.

Leaving the Moon Dorm's property, Yoko didn't even think before changing direction. She blindly walked down a path she vaguely remembered walking before, eyes closed to keep out the unusually bright sunlight. She could feel the land rising up and down in hills, and continued walking, now knowing where she was going.

Opening her eyes for a split second, Yoko almost got a headache from the sudden brightness. Once her eyes adjusted, Yoko could have fainted when she saw Zero. The boy was out in the pasture with a small, gray pony, watching as the horse pulled and tugged at the grass under its hooves.

"Zero!" Yoko called, and the boy looked up to see her. Yoko jogged down the hill to the fence of the pasture, and Zero walked over to meet her. "What the heck are you doing here?" Yoko asked once the silent boy was close enough to hear.

"I always come here on Saturdays to help take care of the horses," Zero said simply. Yoko sighed, and Zero wondered, "Why?"

Yoko wanted to say, "No reason," but then she remembered why she had been so concerned in the first place. "ZERO! YOU WERE ALMOST KILLED YESTERDAY! YET YOU'RE UP HERE, DOING WHATEVER YOU PLEASE!!! I can't tell you how worried I was…" Yoko said, trying to keep back the tears that threatened to fall.

"I'm fine. I heal fast, because I'm part vampire," Zero explained, a somewhat amused look on his face. Yoko frowned, and then shook her head "no".

"I don't care if you heal quickly! I was so freaking scared when I found you in that alley!" Yoko gave Zero a desperate look, trying to get her point across. "I honestly thought you were going to die, and then you surprise me by getting up and leaving first thing in the morning!" Yoko huffed and turned her back on Zero.

"Yoko, I'm sorry," Zero said a moment later, regret evident in his voice. Yoko wanted to tell him she forgave him, but a little voice in her head was telling her one apology wasn't enough.

"I don't think you really mean it. Besides, if you had really cared, you wouldn't have left me all alone."

Yoko heard the thump of boots on wood and then felt Zero's strong arms pull her into a hug. Apparently, Zero had climbed over the fence. Well, one hug and an apology still wouldn't do it. "Yoko," Zero said silkily, whispering into Yoko's ear, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you. I thought you wouldn't mind."

"That's where you're wrong," Yoko huffed. She felt Zero tense up, and a pair of lips pecked her cheek.

"Please forgive me," Zero asked, retracting from the kiss. He wanted Yoko to forgive him so that he could let go of her, even if he didn't completely _want_ to. His vampiric senses were kicking in, and with her neck bare like that, who knew how much longer he could go on without giving in to his urges?

"Alright," Yoko finally sighed, giving in. Zero _always _won. "Just don't _ever _do it again, okay?"

"I promise," Zero said, smiling. Yoko turned around and gave the boy a quick hug before she pulled away.

"Good. But I just want you to know, next time you do something this unforgiving, don't think that a kiss and an apology will work!"

Zero smiled again. "Really? So if the kiss and apology won't work, what about the hug? Was that what _really_ won you over?"

"Shut up!" Yoko said, playfully punching Zero on the arm. Zero laughed and tackled Yoko, sitting on top of her to mess up her hair. Yoko laughed, and then squealed when Zero went to tickle her sides and the back of her neck. The two rolled around on the ground, not caring that their uniforms were getting dirty. In the end, Yoko gave up because it was hard to breathe while you are laughing and trying to get away from a vampire who keeps _tickling_ you.

"Hey! There they are!" Yoko and Zero heard someone shout. Both looked up and saw Yuuki and Yori running down the path to the pasture.

"Oi! Yuuki! Yori! Whatcha up to?" Yoko yelled, standing after a little help from Zero. Zero remained impassive as the two new females ran down and greeted their friends.

"Looking for you!" Yuuki yelled, tackling Yoko. Yoko groaned under her friend's weight. Yori was a bit more polite in her approach, but she was enthusiastic nonetheless. "You'll never guess the news I have for you!"

"You learned to fly?" Yoko asked hopefully. She was too kind to add the, 'So you can fly far, far away?' part.

Yuuki shook her head fiercely. "Nope! Headmaster Cross wants to make up for last night, so he invited you, me, Yori, Zero, Kaname, and Ichijo back out to the town for a free day. We can do whatever we want, as long as we pair up in group so that we are prepared for an atta--"

Zero bumped Yuuki on the head before she could reveal to an unknowing Yori a deep secret. "When do we leave?" he asked quietly.

"Today!" Yori gushed. "We're going to be leaving in an hour or so, around noon, so we are all going to meet at a restraint for lunch. Then we can split up and do whatever we feel like!"

Yoko looked at the excited females to the stoic male beside her. "I'll go, since I've only been in the town once. Have Kaname and Ichijo already agreed?"

"Yes, we happened past them on the way here, so we asked them first," Yuuki explained. "They said they would meet us later, because they have business to do and won't be able to meet us until 6:30 or so." Yuuki gave Zero a meaningful gaze and he understood. The vampires were not coming out until the sun set.

"Well, we have to go tell Headmaster that you are coming!" Yuuki said after a moment of thoughtful silence from everyone. She and Yori turned to go back up the hill, but Zero stopped them with a few barking words.

"Hey, who said I was going?" Zero looked a bit hurt, but that hurt turned to fear when Yoko raised a fist and grabbed him by the collar.

"You're going if I have to drag you by your ears," Yoko seethed. "There's no way I'm going with two hyper teenagers and two _Night Class_ members." Yoko and Zero had a stare-down until Zero sighed and removed Yoko's hand from his uniform.

"Fine. I'll go." Yoko nodded in agreement and Yuuki and Yori – both assuming it was agreed – yelled goodbye and ran up the hill, disappearing from view. Yoko and Zero turned to each other once they were gone, both giving the other a good look before Yoko sighed and leaned against the fence.

"Need help with anything around the stable?" she asked. "We still have an hour or two, so I might a well hang around you until we leave."

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Zero joked. Yoko stuck out her tongue, and after a silent moment Zero asked, "We are going to stay together in a group, right?"

"Yes. I wouldn't be with anyone else," Yoko said. It was supposed to be joking, but it came out much more serious. Zero looked shocked for a moment, and then he let a small smile dominate his face. Yoko smiled back, and then she grasped Zero's hand tightly with her own.

"Come on. I'm sure there's some terrible, hideous job you can find for me to do." Yoko pulled Zero down the path to the stable, and Zero couldn't help but chuckle. This girl sure was interesting. Not to mention…

She made him feel emotions he had hoped to bury deep inside of himself. Even more, he was attracted to her by some unknown, natural force he had no experience in. If he had to take a good, logical guess, Zero would say that he was in love. Pure, innocent, highly-possibly unrequited love. Well, if there was a possibility it wasn't unrequited…

He would just have to find out for himself. And that evening would be the perfect chance.

---chance---

Ah, gome, gome. But, to make up for the long update time and super short chapter, I'll definitely start working on the new chappy right away, and it'll be super long! I won't give up until it is…10 pages at the least! And you have to give me SOME credit, I found a cool way to make the story longer AND I can cram in some Kaname action!

Review, or the cereal killer community and I shall eat you up!munch munch!


	12. Chapter 12

Sugoi! I'll definitely make this a good chapter! Although I have to admit, I really haven't been up to date on the manga. Did anyone else know that they are making Vampire Knight into an anime? I read about it on a Japanese website, but I could only pick out a few of the words, because I specialize in hiragana.

I don't own this, and pray to God I never will, because that I the day the world will end. Or will it? Um, well, yah, it will.

---goodbye cruel Earth!---

Yoko sat and stared out the window, until a well-placed nudge to her ribcage brought her back to reality. "Hey, Yoko, are they here yet?" Yuuki asked, leaning onto Yoko to look out the window also. Yoko pushed Yuuki back onto the seat of the booth and glared.

"If they were here, don't you think I would tell you?" Yuuki shrunk down, cowering into the person on the other side of her – Yori.

"Now, now, you don't have to be so mean," Yori scolded Yoko, trying to comfort Yuuki at the same time. Yoko stuck out her tongue at the other female and turned back to the window. Zero watched from across the table, amusement glittering in his silver eyes.

Suddenly, a pair of figures caught Yoko's eye. "Oi, I think that might be them," she said, pointing out the window down the road. Everyone in the booth – even Zero – turned to see if it was truly the Night Class members. Sure enough, when the figures reached the door to the café, they entered and immediately found the 4 other school members.

"Ready to go?" Kaname asked, a little smile and a playful tone in his voice. "I'm sorry we kept you waiting, so let's spend what remaining time we have having a good time, shall we?"

Yuuki nodded, glad their adventure was finally going to start. The three females and Zero exited their booth after paying for their milkshakes and then the small group walked out of the café, each pair trying to decide where to go first.

Yuuki had immediately clung to Kaname, and Yori, in an attempt to stay close to Yuuki, joined up with Ichijo, who was faithfully following his dorm leader. Zero and Yoko stood close to each other, their pairing already established.

"I say we go to the arcade first! Is that alright with you, Kaname?"

"Wow, really? The arcade sounds like fun, but I actually wanted to head over to the book store. They are having a sale, and I wanted to catch up on all of the latest manga volumes I missed out on."

Both of their interests perked, the Night Class males followed their counterparts, neither of them paying attention to Zero or Yoko. After standing in the streets for a minute or so, Yoko turned to Zero and asked, "So…what should we do?"

Zero looked around at the several different shops and shrugged. "We could always window shop."

"That works. Come on, let's go!" Yoko grabbed Zero's hand and dragged him through the crowds onto the sideway across the street. She gazed into the first window, which was the window of a stationery shop, and laughed, pointing out the cute little stuffed animals that came with little packages of notes. Zero watched in amusement as the newly-excited girl ran from window to window, jumping up and down when she found something cute. Then, when Zero reached the window, she would point it out, giggle, and then run down to the next window. Sometimes Zero wondered how she chose which items to show him. The items were a little random, such as the giraffe slippers and the elephant sippy-cup she had found in the window of a baby's clothing store. At that point, she had asked him a very startling question.

"Hey, Zero. Do you ever want to have children?" She had turned to him then, her intense gaze showing it was a more than important question. When he just shrugged, unable to create coherent words, Yoko broke into a huge grin and grabbed Zero's hand again, tugging on it a little. "You know what, Zero? I bet your kids would be totally adorable! Come on, let's go over here!"

Zero blinked and followed Yoko, afraid he might lose her in the street's crowds. He crossed the alley, thinking she had gone on to the next store, but she was not there at the window. Peering in, he could not find her inside, either.

"Zero?" Zero turned at the sound of his name, thinking it might be Yoko, but alas, it was not.

"Yuuki? Where's Kaname?"

---oops---

"Zero?" Yoko called, mostly to herself, on the busy street. She had lost the silver-haired teen as she crossed the street. She had thought he was following her, but apparently not.

"Ah, Ms. Yoko. I see you lost Zero. I can't seem to find Yuuki either."

"Kaname? I thought you and Yuuki went to the arcade?" Yoko said, turning to come face-to-face with Kuran. Kaname smiled a guilty smile, and then replied.

"Yes, well, on our way back, it seems we were separated in this crowd. I suppose the same happened to you with Kiryu?" Yoko nodded, and the two stood close together, squished in the crowd's onslaught.

"Should we try finding them?" Yoko finally asked, although the idea of searching through the large crowd was unappealing. Kaname shook his had "no" and put a hand on Yoko's shoulder.

"Let's just hope that they found each other. It looks like it is about to storm soon, so we should probably find a café or place where we can stay until we find Ichijo and Ms. Yori."

"You mean you don't know where _they_ are _either_?" Yoko's eyes were downcast, and she was not paying attention. When a man off the streets bumped into her, Yoko fell back into Kaname, who caught her easily.

"What a rude man," Kaname said quietly, holding Yoko by the shoulders. Yoko nodded her agreement, though she wasn't particularly too fond of staying so close to Kaname's side.

"Oh! Look, it's snowing!" a random person on the street shouted. Several people looked up skywards to see if it was true. Little, tiny, white flakes drifted lazily down, melting immediately on whatever they happened to land on. Yoko looked up into the gray, cloudy sky and was greeted by a snowflake landing on her nose.

"That's odd. Snowing, and it's only mid-November." Kaname said, gazing into the clouds of snow that came down in flurries.

"It doesn't even feel like it's cold enough to snow," Yoko said absentmindedly. As if to contrast her previous statement, a small gust of wind make it past her scarf and down the back of her shirt, causing her to shiver and pull her coat more tightly around her small form.

"Let's find a place to wait out the snow," Kaname suggested yet again. This time Yoko agreed wholeheartedly. Kaname guided Yoko down the sidewalk and into a nearby shop, probably one of the last shops to not have closed by then.

"Hello! How may I help you?" an enthusiastic woman shouted from the back of the store. Kaname immediately walked over to a table on one side of the shop, so Yoko felt obligated to reply.

"Oh, we're just looking! Thank you though!" The woman made a noise of acknowledgement and Yoko joined Kaname at the side table. "Whatcha lookin' at?" she asked quietly.

Kaname held up a pendant to Yoko's neck. It was a simple silver chain with a crystal at the bottom .The crystal was red, and held an odd resemblance to a drop of blood, about to fall. Without asking anything, Kaname undid the clasp and placed it around the girl's neck, stepping closer so that he could look over her head to clasp it again.

Once the necklace was in place, Kaname stepped back to admire it. It seemed well suited for Yoko, and it hung around her neck very prettily. "What do you think?" he asked, reaching a hand to fondle the crystal.

"I-It's p-pretty," Yoko stuttered out. When Kaname had been so close to her, Yoko had been able to clearly smell the masculine smell of cologne and the irony musk of blood. Somehow, when mixed together, it smelled enticingly. Kaname just nodded and continued looking at the rest of the treasures on the table. Yoko wandered over to the front desk.

"Hello! My, aren't you a cutey?" the woman from the back said, entering the shop through the doorway covered in beads. She was a homely woman, with dark brown hair pulled up into a bun and an old-fashioned apron hanging around her waist. "Ah, I see you've found the Blood Crystal necklace. My friend, a famous jewelry-maker from France, made it for me before he died, but I couldn't keep it as a personal gift. It looks very cute on you!"

"Um, t-thank you," Yoko said. Without thinking, she reached up a hand and fingered the crystal, rolling it between her fingers one way, and then the other. The woman smiled, and then stuck out her hand.

"I'm Segumi Takuchi, by the way. It's really nice to meet you. Judging by that uniform, you go to that school up on the hill. Am I right?"

"Yes, Cross Academy is the school that Kaname and I go to." Yoko gestured to Kaname, who looked up when his name was called. "That's Kaname Kuran, and you can call me Yoko!"

Segumi looked past Yoko to Kaname and gushed. Skipping around the checkout counter to Yoko, she leaned in close to whisper in the younger female's ear. "Ne, ne, are you and Mr. Kuran d-a-t-i-n-g?"

Yoko turned a bright shade of red and waved her hands frantically. "N-NO! I mean, Kaname and I are just…"

"Friends?" Yoko nodded her head fiercely, glad the older woman had been able to guess correctly on the first try. The homely woman stood to her full height and tutted. "What a shame. He's a right handsome boy, that he is." As if he knew they were talking about him, Kaname turned to the two females again, quickly glancing at them before turning back to the shelf of books he had wandered upon.

"Ms. Yoko, are you ready to go?" Kaname asked a moment later, apparently displeased that a complete stranger was gushing over him.

"Um, yeah, let me just pay for this." Yoko pulled up the chain of the necklace she was wearing and Kaname opened his mouth to say that he would pay for it, but Yoko had already turned towards the checkout counter.

"Oh, no. You don't have to give me a cent! Please, keep it as a gift from me. But only if you promise to come back and visit me again!" Segumi winked at Yoko and Yoko nodded, smiling brightly.

"Thank you!" she said, reaching over to give the other female a light squeeze of appreciation. "Maybe next time I come I'll bring Zero, Yuuki, and Yoko. I think they might like it here." Yoko waved goodbye to Segumi as she and Kaname walked out the door into the cold, snowy night.

"She was nice," Yoko said, her voice muffled by her scarf and the top of her coat. Kaname nodded in a silent agreement, although he hadn't really enjoyed the "comments" the older female brunette had made. "It's really snowing hard, isn't it?"

Kaname looked down onto the top of Yoko's head and asked, "Are you cold?" Yoko shook her head no, but couldn't help the shivers that racked her thin body.

"Let's just get home as soon as possible, okay?" Kaname looked back down the now almost empty road, the fierce wind whipping his brown hair back and forth with the currents. Yoko's hair was tucked into the back of her coat so as not to tangle her long locks. Little snow flakes that hadn't melted yet settled on her dark brown hair, giving it a speckled appearance.

"It shouldn't take long to get to the academy, but once we are there would you like to join me for a warm drink?" Kaname offered, side-stepping a fire hydrant in his path.

"I don't know. I should probably try and find Yuuki and the others, and since they'd probably be in the Sun Dorms…"

"I understand," Kaname said. Yoko couldn't decide whether he was born emotionless or whether it was just his vampiric nature that helped him with the stupidest non-emotion. It has hard to tell, but if Yoko had to guess, she would say the vampire sounded disappointed.

"I had a great time though. It's not often that students are allowed to leave the academy, is it?"

"No. I'm surprised the Headmaster Cross would allow so many people to come at one time, also."

Yoko could see the school gates now. They looked menacing with the gray clouds and accumulated snow. "Kaname…I'm really sorry. I hardly knew you, but I judged you wrongly. Now that I've spent time with you…"

"It's fine. This is where we part. I shall see you soon, Ms. Yoko." It took a moment for Yoko to realize the vampire had disappeared into the night, and then she was all alone.

"Che. Maybe I was right. Bastard, leaving me all alone in the freakin' snow." Yoko trudged down the right path that led to the Sun Dorms, muttering curses all the way. Entering the dorm, she tiptoed up the stairs, afraid that she would wake up the other students. Everyone knew that you weren't allowed to be out late at night, and her sighting would only cause an uproar.

"Ah, damn. I lost my extra key to Zero's room," Yoko muttered when she finally reached the 3rd floor. Knocking on the door, Yoko tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for Zero to open his door. If he was even _there_.

The door opened and Yoko felt herself being pulled into a tight embrace. "Thank God you're finally back…" she felt someone mutter, recognizing Zero's husky voice.

"Can I come in? I'm cold!" Yoko exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Zero in response to Zero's greeting. Zero dragged Yoko into the room, closing the door with a snap.

"Where have you been?" Zero asked as Yoko removed her coat, scarf, and mittens.

"Well, after I lost you in the crowd I found Kaname, and he and I entered this shop to get out of the snow…I guess we were there for a long time. I'm sorry I made you worry."

"Worry is an understatement," Zero muttered. Yoko snorted and hung up all of her wet clothes to dry. Turning to Zero, Yoko gasped and almost had a heart attack.

"Oh my gosh, Zero! Are you trying to commit suicide by freezing to death? It's 30 some degrees below 0 and you're wearing a _tank top_?" It was true; the vampire had changed from his school uniform into a black tank top with black, baggy sweatpants. Even if it was totally unreasonable for the season, Yoko had to admit Zero looked pretty damn hot. "Aren't you cold?"

"No," Zero muttered. Yoko looked down at her feet and then stepped forward to tentatively touch Zero on the arm, expecting to feel cold skin underneath her own. What she wasn't expecting, however, was for Zero to shout and jump back, trying to distance himself from her.

"What the hell?" Zero seethed, and arm covering the spot Yoko had touched. Yoko frowned and took a step forward, but Zero looked up at her and sent her a warning look. "Don't come near me," he said, gritting his teeth in pain.

"Zero, what's wrong?" Yoko asked, not listening to the vampire's words and taking another step forward. Reaching out again, Yoko was surprised when Zero shook his head fiercely.

"Don't touch me!" Zero's hand slipped from his arm, and Yoko got a glance of the large, black mark still starting to form.

"Oh my God, Zero! What the hell is on your arm?" Yoko asked. Had that marked resulted from her touching him? Of course not…right?

Zero looked down at his arm and gritted his teeth even more, slanting his eyes. Yoko got the feeling that it hurt a helluva lot worse than it looked. "Zero, you should go wash it off with cold water; I'm sure it will make it feel better!" Yoko said nervously, frantically pointing in the direction of the bathroom. Zero heeded her words, stumbling over to the small bathroom and turning on the cold tap, sticking his entire arm under the cold water. Yoko could only watch from the bedroom as Zero stood, washing off his black mark the best he could and then drying it.

"I'm…really sorry," she mumbled when Zero came back out of the bathroom, his right arm now newly wrapped in pure white bandages. Zero gave her a peculiar look before he pointed to the bed. Yoko sat down obediently and Zero pulled the covers back from near the pillows. Taking the top blanket, he wrapped it around Yoko and then hugged her tightly.

"Zero, wait! I don't want you to get hurt again!" Yoko protested, even though Zero was obviously not injured because his grasp only became tighter with his friend's statement.

"It's alright. As long as our skin doesn't touch, I won't get burned." Zero's words were calm and cool, as though he _hadn't_ just realized the situation. "I noticed when I hugged you while you had your coat on, but when you took of your gloves and touched me—"

"So we can touch, but just not skin-to-skin?" Zero nodded the affirmative. "I wonder why?"

Zero searched Yoko's face, and then he looked over her body. Eyes catching on her necklace, the vampire asked, "Where did you get that necklace? You weren't wearing it when we left, were you?"

Yoko looked down at fingered the Blood Crystal necklace. "Kaname showed it to me while we were in the shop I told you about earlier. Kaname found it sitting on a table and put it on me to see how it looked, and when the shop owner saw it on me, she said I could just have it."

Zero frowned and hooked the chain onto his finger, determined not to touch Yoko again, and inspected the chain and the crystal hanging off. "Did the shop owner say anything about the necklace's origins?" he asked, leaning in closer to get a better look. The vampire boy didn't even notice the look of discomfort Yoko shot at him. She was terrified he would get burned again if he came too close.

"All she said was that she had gotten it as a present from a jewelry maker in France. It was a personal gift, but she couldn't keep it after she found out the jewelry maker had died."

Zero sighed. "Why don't you take off that necklace for now; it has the potential to be a huge headache." Zero let go of the necklace and Yoko reached up to undo the chain. When she couldn't find the clasp, Yoko looked up at Zero and asked, "Can you help me? I can't find the clasp."

Yoko handed Zero the chain (carefully, of course!) and Zero turned it around several times before coming to a conclusion.

"There's no clasp on this necklace," the vampire said. "It's all one big chain."

"What? No way! Kaname had to look over my head to do the clasp! If it was one big chain I would have had to pull it on over my head, and I can't do that, see?" To prove her point, Yoko tugged the chain up to her chin, but it could not go anywhere past her ears. Most likely, the necklace was made as a sort of choker, but because Yoko was so much smaller and thinner than the person it was originally meant for, it was a normal-sized necklace on her. "You can't_ tell_ me the clasp melted together once I put it on!"

"Looks like it," Zero replied. He pulled away from the girl and stood up from the bed, pacing around in front of Yoko. "We should probably take you back to the store and see if we can get the necklace removed." Yoko nodded her assent, and Zero stop pacing, turning to face her.

"Yoko…it seems that for now, you'll have to live your normal life. Just try to pretend like the necklace isn't there, but I would suggest—"

"Not to touch others, I know." Yoko said, laughing. She was trying her best to turn this into a laughing matter, but it was hard when she knew that _she_ had been the one to cause that mark on Zero's arm. What if she did the same to others?

"Should we tell Yuuki?" Yoko asked after a few minutes of concentrated silence. "She has a right to know, and maybe she can help us." Zero looked over at Yoko and sighed, rustling his hair with his left hand, his right arm still throbbing from the shock he had gotten when Yoko touched him.

"I suppose so, but I'd hesitate to tell Headmaster Cross. He'd make a huge deal out of it, so the best guess I have is to sneak you out tomorrow after my Night watch and go back to the store you got the necklace from. You remember where the shop is, right?"

"Yeah. It's not too far from the road leading to the academy," Yoko answered, plotting out their course in her head. It would only take us ten minutes to get there, and that's if we're walking leisurely."

"Alright, it's settled then. Get some rest, we have school tomorrow." Yoko glanced at the clock and just had to correct her vampire friend.

"Today. We have school today. It's 1:13 in the morning."

Zero glanced at the digital clock and scoffed. "That's what you get when you have dinner-dates with _vampires_."

Yoko laughed. "I don't see how you can say that when_ you're_ a vampire." From the look on Zero's face, Yoko knew the only thing keeping her from death was the sadistic necklace hanging around her neck. Again, the girl glanced to the bandages on the boy's upper, right arm and instantly sobered.

"You know…we can't share a bed tonight. I'll take the couch." Zero just shook his head.

"It's fine. I have to go back out on rounds in a few minutes anyway, so you can have the bed and I'll take the couch." Grabbing his jacket from the chair, Zero threw it over his shoulder and promptly exited the dorm room, leaving Yoko all alone.

"Geez, what is it with vampires and leaving damsels in distress?" Yoko muttered as she perched at the edge of the bed. Although, she wasn't a very good damsel in distress if she was the one causing all of the stress.

Zero…he brought so much light to her world previously bathed in darkness. Yet, all she could do was _cause _him pain. What kind of friend was she? Maybe it was a bad idea to live in the same room. She could possibly request a room change, but that would require her to turn in her old room key, of which she didn't have. Also, she would probably have to state reasons, and she couldn't really say, "Oh, well, I want to change rooms because living with a guy you love and don't want to hurt is a bad idea."

"Gah!" Yoko shouted, falling back drastically onto the bed. "Why do I always mess everything up?"


	13. Chapter 13

Squee! I finally posted my story for Furuba! Yay! XD One anime to check off the list! Sweet! 16 more on the list, but I only need to get rid of 6 or 7.

Amazing. I just counted. 7 of those 16 are animes I have planned as yaoi stories, or are originally yaoi. Maybe I should change my name to yaoifangirl1234. Or is that already taken? I could always go with shounenaiROX or boyxboy4eva. LOL. So weird, I be.

I don't own, and after reading those first few paragraphs, aren't you glad I don't? XD

---shounen-ai4eva!---

Yoko leaned against the brick wall, her thoughts not completely on her surroundings. She stared down at the ground, thinking things over. She and Zero had discovered another important clue to the necklace earlier. It only burns _vampires_. This became clear very quickly when Yuuki tackled her on the way to school earlier that morning, hugging her tightly and grabbing her hands to drag her back to a waiting Yori.

The doors leading to the Moon Dorms opened and the fan girls starting screaming, creating enough noise for Yoko to look up from her shoes. Right at the front of the crowd of other vampires was Kaname. Yoko's breath caught in her throat at the thought of the brown-haired vampire. He had been the one to show her the necklace. He had been the one to place it around her neck.

Of course, she didn't hate him or have a personal grudge or anything against him. It wasn't like he had purposefully picked out the necklace, knowing it would melt together and she wouldn't be able to undo it from her neck.

And, of course, if he _had_ planned everything, she'd be sure to kick his ass _extra_ hard.

As Yoko watched Yuuki and Zero keep the crowd at bay, she thought about what Zero had planned out for the two of them. Yuuki had strongly objected, of course, saying that it was against the rules and that they should tell Headmaster Cross before acting. After all, leaving the school to go – ahem, "shopping" – was out of the question.

Yoko raised her head to watch all of the vampires walking straight past her. Kaname looked at her for a moment, stopping beside her as though he was going to say something, but when Yoko pasted a blank look on her face the elder starting walking again.

Unfortunately, one vampire _did_ stop to talk. Hanabusa Aido stopped walking like Kaname had, but he was stupid enough to lean down and finger the necklace Yoko now knew she had to keep on. Yoko was amazed that the vampire's fingers did not touch her skin, but at the same time she was a little glad. She didn't want to cause a huge scene, plus she would probably get shot by Aido's fan girls if she hurt him, intentional or not.

"What a pretty necklace! Is this the one Kaname was telling us all about?" Aido asked, a smirk clearly evident on his flawless face. Oh, how Yoko wanted to punch that smiling face in!

"Yes, it is. But I bet I could tell you way more about the necklace than he could!" Yoko hissed quietly, trying to ignore the curious stares she was receiving. She was sure the other girls (and the few random guys) couldn't hear her conversation with Aido, but hopefully no one in the crowd knew how to lip read really, really well.

Aido gave Yoko a curious stare, and she just shook her head. No matter how much Yoko despised this guy, he was a good path of connection to Kaname.

"Just tell Kaname…I'm going to return the necklace. It had a few extra additives no one should _ever _want." Yoko grit her teeth together and Aido blinked.

"Should I tell Kaname to follow you?" Aido asked, uncertainty hinted at his voice.

"No. He'll be in class by the time Zero and I are gone. Don't tell him, but we're leaving right after Zero gets done with this shift."

"Does Yuuki know?"

"Yeah, but she was against this. She's going to cover our absence for us. You better get going, people are starting to stare at us."

"Let them," Aido smirked. Bending down quickly, Aido made to give Yoko a kiss, but knowing he would get burned she stepped out of the way and Aido's lips met air.

"I wouldn't do that," Yoko whispered. Aido shrugged, trying to cover up his embarrassment, and put a hand on Yoko's coat.

"See ya later, little chicky," the vampire said before departing. Yoko rolled her eyes; Aido was such a spaz. A spaz with too much pride.

Once the doors to the school closed, all of the fan girls were crowded around Yoko. Mentions of, "Are you and Idol an item?" and "Are you seeing Idol?" rang out, and Yoko was sure that Aido could hear them on the other side of the gate. She could just picture the smirk on his face.

"Oh, why don't you just go back to your stupid dorms?" Yoko asked, waving away a few students who were getting too close to her. Even if she couldn't burn them, she wished for a fleeting second that she could. Amazingly, a few of the girls - knowing their idols would not be seen again until the next night - listened to Yoko's words and left, taking a few of their brainless friends with them.

Once the clearing was empty - save a few pardoned persons - Zero walked over to Yoko and said, "Let's go. We shouldn't waste time." Yoko nodded, and after some good luck from Yuuki, followed Zero down the path to the main gates.

Jogging, it only took 5 or 6 minutes to get to the edge of the town. Yoko shuddered as she looked past the warehouses where she had found a broken, bleeding Zero.

"It's around here somewhere," she said mainly to herself, leading Zero down many streets and through a few empty alleys. "I just hope it's still open."

"It would make sense for it to be open," Zero reasoned, "because you and Kaname entered it pretty late at night last night right? Maybe it just has weird shop hours."

"Ah! There it is!" Yoko caught sight of the little shop and almost went to grab Zero's hand, thinking quickly at the last moment. Although it wouldn't have mattered much, because she was wearing gloves. Ever since that first snow, the temperature had been dropping steadily every hour of the day.

Running over to the shop's entrance, Yoko pulled open the door and stepped inside, immensely glad to hear the jingling of the bell announcing her arrival. Zero walked in behind her, closing the door quickly to keep out the cold.

"Hello! Welcome! Please have a look around!" Segumi yelled from the back of the store.

"Segumi, it's me, Yoko! Can you please come out here, it seems we have an emergency!" Yoko yelled back, staying around the door while Zero wandered around the shop, looking at various odd objects and wondering if they had the same demonic abilities as Yoko's necklace.

"Yoko? Is that you dear? What's the matter?" Segumi immediately stepped past the beads and into the shop front, surprised to see her new acquaintance so soon after meeting.

"Do you remember that necklace you let me have? Well, come have a look at it! The clasp melted into the chain! Now I can't get it off!" Yoko voice reached a high point during her speech, showing just how nervous she really was.

"What? Let me see. Come over here in the light." Segumi beckoned Yoko over to the counter and Yoko complied. Segumi proceeded to turn on a desk lamp and rotated the necklace around in her hands, not finding a clasp or even extenders.

"That's…amazing. Are you sure you didn't do anything? Did you take the necklace off and place it near someplace hot?"

"No…when Kaname and I got back to the dorms I immediately went back to my dorm and…" Yoko glanced to Zero at this point. Zero felt her gaze on him and turned to meet eyes with her. "And then when I went to take the necklace off so that I wouldn't get it tangled as I slept, I found out that it didn't have a clasp anymore."

"Hm…so I suppose you want me to take it off for you? I'll see what I can do, but I'm not the greatest at repairing jewelry, so I'm afraid that by the time I get it of it might be ruined."

"It's fine with me, as long as it's off!" Yoko didn't mean to, but she felt a tear slip past her closed eyes. Shaking fists hit against her knees, and Yoko's teeth grit together with determination. "I want this thing off! It…"

"Yoko," Zero said in a calm voice, "come here." Segumi watched in amazement as a still crying Yoko jumped up from the stool she had been sitting on and ran over to Zero, practically tackling him. Thank goodness neither of them had taken off any of their extra clothes, otherwise Zero would've had some pretty achy arms. Even without the threat of being burned, Yoko's hug was bone-crushing in its own cute, unique way. With his gloves still on, Zero patted Yoko's head and murmured, "There, it's alright. We'll get your necklace off."

"Um…let me get my kit from the back and I'll get right to work!" Segumi said, awkwardly stepping back behind the beads to search for the mentioned kit. Zero watched the older woman go as he hugged Yoko close. He hadn't been this close to the girl since they had passed while switching turns for bathroom use. They had only brushed then, he could tell it had been enough to make the girl's nerves jitter.

When Segumi came back out, Zero pushed Yoko back over to the stool and pulled up a chair as he watched Segumi attack the chain with pliers and pins, hoping to make a small, repairable break in the chain. When that didn't work she heated up a solder (sounds like "sauder") and tried to heat up the chain enough for it to slip apart. That seemed like a brilliant idea for a while, until the three realized a solder was used to _connect _two things.

"Why don't we take a break while I think of something else?" Segumi asked, leaning back. "I'll make you two some hot chocolate or tea, if you'd like."

"I'd like some hot chocolate, please," Yoko asked nicely. She really wanted something to warm her up, because the shop front didn't get much of the nice air-conditioning, or whatever the building had as its heating. Zero just shook his head "no" as a silent way of saying he was fine without anything.

When Segumi went into the back, Yoko sighed and looked out the shop window. "Wow, it's snowing really hard. Just look at how the snow has piled up!" Zero turned his head so that he could look, and if he had had a drink, he would have spit it out.

"That much snow has gathered since we came here?" he asked himself quietly. Nearly a foot of snow had collected by the door since the two had entered the shop, but neither of them had noticed the sudden change in weather.

"Yoko, Zero, why don't you come in here? There's a nice fire, and it's much warmer than out in the shop front!" Yoko hopped off of her stool and stepped past the beads, Zero following behind her after one last look through the window.

The back of the shop was much different than the front. It was a long room, with the entrance on the far left side. A fireplace took up the whole right side, and in between were two small couches sitting atop a large Persian rug, a small coffee table in-between. Behind the two couches were boxes piled upon boxes, most of them overflowing with small and medium treasures, and then in the corners of the room - placed carefully so they would not catch on fire – were large items, a few being rolled up rugs and a statue of an ancient emperor.

Looking around the room, Yoko decided to take a seat on the couch closest to the fire. Zero stood in front of the other, not sure whether he entirely wanted to sit down. He had been sitting in his chair ever since Segumi had started working on Yoko's necklace, and he must have been sitting wrong because his butt was starting to get numb. Was it possible for you to cut off the circulation in your butt?

Segumi suddenly appeared, bringing with her a tray with three mugs on it, a small jar of coco mix, and a teapot that had steam coming out of its spout. Setting the tray down on the table, she proceeded to mix the coco and boiling water into two of the cups, leaving enough for Zero if he wanted a cup later on. After mixing the hot liquid well, she handed one mug to Naeko and took a sip of her own, shivering as the burning liquid slid down her throat, searing her sensitive flesh. Naeko only held her mug by the handle and the very bottom, because the cup was too hot for her hands, mittens and all.

"Naeko, darling, would you like to take all of your winter clothing off? It must be very hot in here, what with the fire and all of that padding!" Naeko looked down and nodded, placing her cup back on the tray so that she could unzip her coat and wrestle out of it, placing it beside her on the couch. Her hat came next, and she had only kept it on to hold her hair out of the way of Segumi's pliers. As her hat came off, dark brown locks fell back into their natural place, making Zero and Segumi gawk. It was just too beautiful a sight.

Finally came the mittens, which Naeko actually wanted to keep on. Her hands were sweaty, though, and it would be gross - if not funny – if her hands became pruned from staying in her mittens for too long in a hot atmosphere. Dumping all of her extras onto her coat, Naeko turned to stare into the fire. A blast of air swept down the chimney, and the fire leapt out at her, basking her face in a golden glare and the warmth from which the light came.

"Naeko." Naeko turned when Zero said her name. "What's the matter? You look troubled."

"Nothing…" Naeko lied, turning back to face the fire. The fireplace held her in a sort of trance, as she watched the flames flickered and die, only to come back to life, flicker, and die once more. It was amazing, that no matter how many times a particular flame died, the entire fire never went out.

_That's not the way it is with you and I, my precious_, a creepy voice said inside Naeko's head. At first she thought Zero or Segumi had said something, so she turned and gave them puzzling looks. When they stared her back down, Naeko asked, "Did you say something?"

"No," Segumi answered. "The last thing said was Zero asking if you were alright. You answered that you were okay, though. Is something bothering you?"

"Nah, I'm just hearing things," Naeko replied, shrugging off the issue. Apparently, she didn't think that hearing things was weird, but Segumi's mouth dropped open and Zero frowned, a troubled look deep upon his handsome face.

_You aren't hearing things, my precious. For now, we must settle for voices, but soon I will see you. Soon, I will be able to taste you and breathe in your smell._

Yoko frowned, the voice in her head was beginning to trouble her now. _Yeah, yeah, you just think that. But I'm staying right here, with Zero and Segumi, and you can't do anything about it! _Yoko could have sworn she heard the voice growl, but when she got no reply, she allowed herself a satisfied smirk.

Segumi and Zero, seeing the full spectrum of Yoko's ranging emotions, began to fear for the young girl's mental health. A ding rang out as a customer walked into the shop front, and Segumi immediately stood to go attend to them. Before she left, however, the kind woman told Yoko," Darling, why don't you lie down and rest for a little. There's a blanket hanging off the back of the couch that you may use." Yoko nodded her understanding and Segumi walked through the doorway, brushing the beads out of her way.

Once the students could hear Segumi and the customer conversing, Zero stood and walked around the coffee table to Yoko. Sitting on the edge of the couch he grabbed her by the shoulders and gently pushed her down, lifting her legs up so that she was lying on the couch. Yoko squirmed a little, but made no complaints. Then, when she was comfortable, Zero reached over the top of the couch and unfolded the blanket, covering Yoko with it. "Get some rest; we could be here a while because of the snow."

"Zero, will we really have to spend the night here? Don't you think we'd get in trouble if someone found out?" Yoko pulled the blanket up to her chin and gave Zero an innocent look. Zero felt himself staring at the girl's cute, innocent form, and then shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"We'd probably get in trouble, but as long as we explained it thoroughly to Headmaster Cross…"

"I think Yuuki might do that for us!" Yoko laughed weakly. Zero really felt sorry for her. The burden of the necklace was taking a toll on her, surely.

"Yes, yes, now get some rest." Zero leaned over, about to give Yoko a kiss, before he remembered. He couldn't touch her. Not while she had that necklace on her pretty little neck. Yoko seemed to sense this too and sighed, blowing a few strands of her hair out of her face.

"Zero, why don't you rest too?" Zero just shook his head no, like he had done so many times before when offered anything.

_That boy doesn't want anything from you; he hates you. Once you go to sleep he'll leave you, and then I will have to comfort you. He's just a worthless little boy who doesn't know how much your heart is really worth_. Yoko's eyes widened as she listened to the voice in her head. Bolting up, she grabbed Zero by the sleeve and asked him, "You won't leave me, will you Zero? You wouldn't do what he said, would you? You don't hate me, do you?"

Zero frowned and held onto Yoko's wrist, which was covered by her long-sleeved uniform. "Of course not, to all of those. Who are you talking about, Yoko? Who is "he"?"

"There's guy talking to me in my head…he keeps telling me bad things. I want him to leave me alone! Zero, make him leave me alone! Please!" Yoko started sobbing, her self-control gone, and she leaned over onto Zero, who held her closely.

_I'm not going to leave you alone, my precious. You belong to me. _"No! No! I don't belong to anyone!" Yoko shook her head fiercely, hitting Zero on the jaw once, leaving him with a tingling sensation.

"Yoko! Get ahold of yourself! No one is going to hurt you. I'm here, and I'll keep you safe!" Zero gave Yoko a tight squeeze to let her know he meant it, but Yoko's attention was on two other words - not necessarily the words she wanted to hear. A large thump resounded from the ceiling of the shop and Yoko began to shake in Zero's possessive grasp.

_I'm here._

---X---

Whoosh! That was long! XD Yay, it's done! One more chapter or so! Wow, I can't believe this story is almost over! I love this chapter so much, but don't ask me why! I always get really hyper when I think about it! I was so inspired to write it, also! I think that's why it was so long! Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

I don't own this. Ah, wait, I own the story, and Yoko, and Segumi, and the new guy you'll meet today! But not the actual manga. And that's very depressing for me. BUT, they are making the manga into an anime soon, and that makes me very happy!

---more anime! XD---

After hearing the loud thunk from above them, Zero stood up from the couch, bringing Yoko with him. A shriek and the sound of broken glass floated in from the shop front, and Zero immediately rushed over to the beads, peeking through to see what had happened.

In the front of the shop, Segumi and an older man were staring up at the ceiling. A broken piece of pottery was lying at Segumi's feet, covering her slippers in a light coating of dust. Feeling uneasy, Zero reached his hand to the waistband of his uniform, ready to pull out his Bloody Rose if necessary.

"Zero, is everything alright?" Yoko whispered, taking a step across the room closer to Zero. Zero glanced at Yoko and nodded, giving her only a little of the reassurance she needed.

"Zero, Yoko, are you two alright?" Segumi asked, raising her voice just a little to make sure the academy students could hear her. Zero swept his hand through the beads and stepped out of the back to join the adults. Yoko - not wanting to be alone in the back of the store - followed him.

"What was that?" the man asked, knees shaking with fright.

"Um, maybe some snow fell off the tree next door and landed on our roof?" Segumi offered, trying to console the white-haired man. Her customer didn't need to know that there were apartments upstairs that would keep any noise out of the store, if the noise was on the roof.

"Um, Mrs. Segumi, can I help you clean that up?" Yoko asked, referring to the broken pottery at the older woman's feet.

"Ah! Yes dear, there's a broom and dustpan in the doorway of the stairwell; would you get it for me?" Yoko nodded and ran off to find the mentioned items. Zero backtracked and got the trash can from under the checkout counter.

"Wow, look at the snow," Segumi said after she happened to glance out the window. "It just keeps on piling up. Maybe you should get headin' home, Mr. Yugito. If you wait much longer, your might be trudgin' home in 2 foot high snow!"

"Hey, I got the broom, but I couldn't find the dust…" Yoko's sentence trailed off as loud thumping came from the roof again. Everyone in the room at that time stood stock still and stared up at the ceiling, waiting for something to happen. Unfortunately, they didn't have to wait for long.

With no announcement or hesitation, a small section of the ceiling collapsed, bringing with it a dark, shadowy being. Yoko and Segumi screamed, while Mr. Yugito let out a hoarse shout and Zero remained quiet, but pulled out his Bloody Rose.

"_Yoko, darling, I've finally come to get you_," the being drawled out. It spread its black wings and rustled its feathers, scratching the wooden floorboards with its talons. It was then that Yoko realized the predicament she was in. Zero and the other two adults were on the other side of the being, and she was alone near the beaded entrance. Although, in a way, this was a good thing. If the being only wanted her, the others wouldn't be in its way.

Zero, also noticing this predicament, tensed up. Not taking his gaze from the dark creature in front of him, Zero said to the couple behind him, "You two should run, Segumi. Take Mr. Yugito and get out of here, so that you don't get hurt."

"Zero…" Segumi said, her face softening even in the intense predicament. A single look from the vampire slayer was enough to get her into action, however. Ushering up Mr. Yugito, she pushed and guided the older man out the door, silently praying to the gods that Zero and Yoko would be alright.

Once Segumi and Yugito were out the door, the evil being cackled loudly. "_Oh, so now the fun begins_?" it asked in its high, whiny voice. Yoko's eyes widened as the black wings on its back disappeared, shriveling and fading. Talons that previously scratched the floor shrunk into feet that were becoming smaller and more human-like. This transformation continued until the being looked completely like a normal human.

"Yo…ko…" the person said, eyes drowsy and body sluggish. Yoko backed away when the person took a step towards her and then ended up on the floor, finding not even enough energy to move. "Yoko, please, help me. It's taking me over; _make it stop_!"

"I…" Yoko took a step forward, entrapped in the human's spell. She had recognized those words, "make it stop". They sounded so familiar, as if she had heard them a million times before. She just couldn't place her finger on where.

"Yoko, don't take a step further," Zero growled, aiming his Bloody Rose at the human-like creature. As if she were purposefully ignoring Zero's words, Yoko took another step closer, her eyes fogged over and lack-luster. The creature's hand reached out shakily and grasped onto Yoko's shoe. Zero frowned and shot at the creature, but with amazing speed the creature stood up and appeared behind Yoko, a long, claw-like finger at the girl's throat.

"_You wouldn't do that, would you_?" the demon asked. It no longer had the appearance of a poor, weak human, but now it took the form of a handsome young man whose face held a devious grin. "_This girl is precious to both you and me. What would happen if you_ _**missed**_?"

"She is not precious to you; you are just a lowly E-class vampire who needs her blood." There was no doubt of the hate and malice found in the boy's voice. The vampire grinned largely and drew its finger over Yoko's neck, making the still blank-faced girl tremble in fear.

"_Oh, but she__ is__ precious. With this necklace on her, I can make her do __anything__ for me_," the vampire drawled on. The cut he had made on Yoko's neck drew blood, and with a smirk the vampire leaned over her shoulder to lick up the red liquid.

"Why isn't the necklace shocking you?" Zero asked, a bit curious. Although his curiosity wasn't felt nearly as strong as his hatred for the vampire before him. It would be a bit too obvious to say that Zero was peeved his roommate was having her blood drank by another vampire, and right in front of him, no less.

"_I made this necklace, a long time ago, before I was killed by a vampire and turned. I placed a curse on it soon afterwards, and waited for someone to put it on. I'm rather glad this young lady tried it on. She's such a cutie, isn't she_?" The vampire trailed kisses from the scratch at Yoko's neck up to her jaw and back down. It was even daring enough to grasp the terrified girl around her waist and pull her closer to him. Yoko tried to resist, even in her state of mind, but it was hopeless. The vampire had a firm hold on her, and wasn't going to let go any time soon.

"Why can't you leave her alone?" Zero asked, trying to buy time until he could think of a plan.

"_The necklace is still on her, so she still is bound to me. Until I take that necklace off with my own hands, this girl belongs to me_." Well, Zero had to hand it to the vampire, he sure didn't waste words or time in explanation. "_In order to activate the master system, however, I just had to get her close enough so that I could touch her_."

"Which is why you transformed into that sickly-looking human," Zero concluded. "But, if I might ask, what is the master system?"

The vampire chuckled and rubbed its cold cheek against the girl's warm one. "_Oh, it's just a little system I invented that would allow me to take possession over whoever put on the necklace. It would also alert me whenever a new owner for the necklace was located, which is why I was able to find my precious_."

"Would you stop calling her your "precious?" Zero asked, annoyed. "You don't own her, nobody does."

"_You know, boy, I've noticed that you haven't been all that surprised at my arrival. Are you what I think you are_?" The devious grin on the vampire's face still hadn't disappeared, and Zero was getting seriously peeved. With Yoko as a human shield, that vampire could do anything he wanted, and Zero could do nothing.

"If you mean a vampire, yes. But I drank the blood of a pureblood, and there's no way in hell I'm going to become such a monster, like you." Speaking of that pureblood, where the hell was he? Wasn't Kuran supposed to be some sort of hero that popped up whenever trouble arose concerning _vampires_?

"_Oh? You sound like you don't like me all that much? I'm hurt. Just like I'm sure this girl is hurt_." Zero frowned and the hand holding his gun shook a little. "_You obviously care for her so much because she gives you her blood freely. You take her life from her as easily as I could take __your__ life from __you_."

"That's not true," Zero said quietly. He hadn't had any of Yoko's blood since the night when she first found out about him being a vampire. Of course, that was what he thought. Zero was unconscious at the time, but Yoko had also slit her wrist to supply him with blood when she had found him in the warehouse alley.

"_Of course it's true. Did you know that a person slowly changes after they have been bitten by a vampire? Miniscule changes that are not visible to the naked eye appear drastically different when it is a master and slave relationship_." The vampire brought his unoccupied hand up and caressed Yoko's face, kissing her on the cheek once more. When he pulled away, Zero thought he noticed a warm, loving look in the vampire's eyes. Thinking he had been seeing things, Zero shook his head slightly to rid it of ridiculous thoughts.

"Listen, if you let Yoko go, I'll face you on a head-to-head challenge. If you'd just take the necklace off, I'd be more than happy to give you my own life. You said the necklace gave you possession of a body, right? Wouldn't you much rather have a body like mine? A healthy, muscular vampire with inside connections?" Zero hated how desperate he sounded, but he would do anything at that point to get the necklace off of Yoko and keep it off. Then, after the vampire had taken the necklace off of Yoko, he could shoot the bloody hell out of the accursed creature.

"_No, I don't think I'll take you up on that offer. Male slaves are no fun, but females are slaves with "benefits", if you get what I am hinting at. Not only that, but they make the most delicious noises when you do this_…" The vampire lowered his arm that was around Yoko's waist, making it brush a very uncomfortable spot. Then, he used the tips of his fingers to guide her head up at an angle so that her neck was easier to get to. Placing kisses blindly, the vampire finally stopped right at Yoko's jugular and bit in slightly with razor sharp teeth. Yoko gasped and shut her eyes tightly, shaking and trembling in her "owner's" grasp. Blood ran out of the two small holes, and the vampire greedily licked it up, adding extra sucking power to drain the holes as much as possible.

"STOP IT!" Zero shouted. Forgetting his Bloody Rose, Zero ran forward and tackled the couple, bringing both onto the ground with him. With as much tenderness as possible, Zero wrestled Yoko out of the vampire's grasp and placed her out of harm's way, all the while baring his fangs at the vampire trapped beneath him.

"_Franco Pierro. It's my name. Remember it, boy_." Zero blinked, and the next moment the vampire that had been trapped beneath him had disappeared, leaving no trace for ever being there (unless you counted the huge hole in the ceiling).

"Ze…ro…" Yoko mumbled. She had been cast aside in Zero's attempt to get her away from the vampire, who Zero now knew as Franco. Zero stared at the ground beneath him one more time before he crawled over to Yoko.

"Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?" Zero asked, concerned. Yoko nodded and rubbed her head as though she was trying to get rid of a hangover.

"Yeah, I have a huge headache. What happened?" Yoko looked around quickly, and asked, "Where's that one dude? Is he okay? He looked really sick!"

"Don't worry about it," Zero told her, grabbed her wrist and pulling her into a close hug. Even though the smell of blood was choking him, Zero needed Yoko to be close to him at that moment. He had been so scared when Franco had drunk Yoko's blood. _Thank god the damned heathen wasn't a pureblood_.

"Zero…why am I not burning you anymore?" Yoko asked in her sleepy voice. She was obviously not fully recovered from the trance Franco had put her in. Zero pulled Yoko back and held her at an arm's length, examining her. Even though he was holding her by the bare wrists, Zero was not burned the slightest bit.

"I'm not sure, but we need to get you cleaned up," Zero said, pulling Yoko up to her feet after he was up on his own feet. The amount of blood coming out of Yoko's neck was beginning to get Zero worried and anxious once more. It was apparent Yoko could not walk in her state, so Zero picked her up bridal style and took her into the back room, where he deposited her on the larger, softer couch.

Zero and Yoko's attentions were perked when the bell alerting a new customer rang. Zero immediately felt his hand reach for the Bloody Rose.

"Hey, it looks empty!"

"Don't worry. Zero, Yoko, are you here?"

Yoko had to think before she recognized the two voices. "Ichijo! Kaname! We're in the back; come on in!" Sitting up, Yoko leaned against the back of the couch and put on an award-winning smile as the two other vampires brushed past the beads and entered the back.

"Dear lord, Yoko, what happened to you?" Ichijo asked, striding over to inspect the easily-seen blood on Yoko's neck. Yoko just blushed slightly and mumbled something incoherently.

"Where is Kiryu?" Kaname asked, his anger well-hidden behind a stoic mask. Yoko looked around the room, having not even realized Zero had left earlier to get water and a cloth to wipe off the blood from her neck.

"Zero?" Yoko called out. A muffled shout came from another room near the beaded entrance that Yoko hadn't even noticed earlier, because the door was made of the same wood as the wall beside it. Zero appeared a moment later with a first aid kit in his mouth, a pillow tucked under one arm, and the teapot from earlier that he had found in a small kitchen off the side of the living space. Putting everything except for the pillow on the table beside the couch, Zero sat the pillow down on the couch for Yoko to use and placed the teapot near the fire to warm up for a bit.

"Kiryu, what the hell are you doing making tea at a time like this?" Ichijo asked, irritation taking a backseat to his anger. "How could you have let Yoko endure such a torture? Her neck is a bloody mess; what the hell happened?"

Zero looked up from his work for only a second to glare at Ichijo. Opening the first aid kit, the silver-haired vampire took out an antiseptic cloth, some cotton puffs, and a thin healing salve. Then he took the water away from the fire and poured a small bit into the petri-like dish also included in the care kit. Dipping the cotton into the lukewarm water, Zero beckoned for Yoko to scoot closer to him and she obeyed, waiting patiently and silently as Zero wiped away the blood from her neck. Ichijo and Kaname just watched silently as Zero did his work.

After the wound was taken care of and bandaged, Zero took the first aid kit and the tea kettle back into the living space he found them in and then returned to the back room with the others.

"Shall we go, then?" Kaname asked. "I expect you two to spill all when we get back to the academy."

Yoko nodded her assent, and then froze when she remembered something. "Wait! What about Segumi and the old man she had with her?"

"Oh, you mean Mrs. Takuchi? We met her on our way down here. She noticed the crests on our jackets and asked us if we were from the same school as you two. She wanted us to tell you that she will be staying with a Mr. Yugito, whoever that is." Ichijo relayed all this information with a reassuring tone.

"Oh, alright. I suppose we can go, but isn't the snow getting a bit high outside?" Yoko had only just remembered the earlier snow storm. "Did you guys actually come out here in this sort of weather?"

"We didn't have a choice; Headmaster Cross sent us," Kaname answered quickly. "It seems Yuuki was worried about you, so she told Headmaster and I offered to come and look for you. Ichijo tagged along too, because the Headmaster insisted I bring someone with me, and I didn't want to endanger Yuuki."

"Also, you're right about the whole snow thing," Ichijo continued. "The snow's gotten really high, and it's a good thing we got here when we did."

"So…we're stuck here?"

---XD---

Yes, dammit! You are so freakin' stuck there! Man, it's like a reverse harem! So many hot guys (okay, well, it's only 3) and only one girl! Good lord, Yoko, give me some of your luck! Not to mention you have a pretty-boy vampire looking to make you his!

Also, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to **WomanofSporks**, cause she rockith hardcore. THANK HER FOR THE UPDATE, BITZCHES! SHE'S THE ONLY REASON I GOT OFF MY LAZY ASS AND WORKED!

Also, this chapter was NOT spellchecked in any way. Sorry if there's any mistakes.


	15. Chapter 15

Gah…I have no inspiration whatsoever. No will to write, no interest…

Sorry if this chapter is boring! I'll do my best. To make it interesting, that is.

---stilldrunkongrapejuice---

Yoko lay on the couch, sleeping soundly. Ichijo and Kaname were sitting side-by-side on the smaller couch, while Zero insisted on sitting down by Yoko's feet.

"So, you are the only vampire who can touch her, correct?"

"Yes, but we still don't know why."

"You say this vampire's name is Franco Pierro. We'll have to look it up later." Ichijo sighed and put his head in his hands. "Do you know anything else about him?"

Zero had to think for a moment. Although he didn't like having to confide in the Night Class, Yoko was involved in the whole plot. If it meant her safety, Zero would do anything. "For an E-class vampire, he seemed pretty sane. Not only could he restrain himself from drinking Yoko's blood when it was so close, he also could take on the appearance of a human and spoke in coherent sentences."

"Really?" Ichijo looked up from his hands, sounding genuinely interested. "That's odd. I wonder how he managed to do that. Well, not the whole speaking-in-a-civilized-manner thing, but it's interesting that he could withhold from drinking her blood. At least we don't have to worry about her turning into a vampire."

Zero stiffened at the very mention of a horrible predicament that could very well happen. Unknowing to the others, Kaname also twitched a miniscule twitch, the crease in his brow becoming more defined with each minute. Ichijo sighed and rubbed his temples to relieve the major headache he was having. Trouble just seemed to be finding him every second of the day.

The fire crackled loudly, making Yoko stir in her deep sleep. All three boys looked at her at the same time, each thinking their own thoughts. "Did they say what time the snow storm was supposed to be over by?" Zero asked quietly. Ichijo shook his head no.

Kaname stood and stalked over to the beaded entrance, swiftly moving the multi-colored strings out of his way so that he could see the amount of snow piled up outside of the shop. The snow's peak was now halfway up the shop window, leaving only a small section left to see out of. Not that there was anything to see anyway. The entire world outside of the shop was white; all color had been bleached. Ichijo stood and walked over beside his higher-up, leaning gently against the doorway as he gazed silently out at the white sight.

"The sun will be up soon," Kaname said gently. He seemed to be talking to Ichijo, because it didn't really matter to Zero whether he was out in the sun or not. "We'll have to stay here until nighttime, but if there is a way you can get Yoko home safely, you should take her back to the academy." Zero looked up, now knowing that the pureblood had been addressing him.

"I was planning on it," the silver-haired boy retorted, although because his heart was not in it, the reply had less of a sinister nature than needed to make it sound complete.

"I'm worried about Mrs. Takuchi, actually," Ichijo said, butting into the conversation. "I can't help but wonder if and when she's going to be able to come back to her shop. I'm sure she knows we'll take care of it, though."

Zero scoffed silently. _Take care of it? We're in the middle of a semi-crisis and the vampire is worried about taking care of a shop that no one will be able to get to anyway, with all of this snow. And it's an antique shop, so why would anyone feel like coming here when there are several feet of snow out. A grocery store or a hospital I could understand, but an __antique shop_

---

Yoko twitched in her sleep. Vampires with evil, gleaming fangs ran rampant in her dreams, scaring her senseless. She was in a never-ending dark abyss, the only light centered on her. Trying to take a step forward, the girl was terrified to find that she couldn't move.

The scene changed, and she was in the front of the antique shop. Zero was looking at her with a concerned face, worry shining in his bright eyes. Then, Zero's eyes flickered to a place past her right shoulder, and Yoko couldn't figure out why. Suddenly, she had a clawed hand at her neck and a mouth at her jaw. Cold, but surprisingly soft lips ran like a ghost over her chilled skin. Ha! What a pun. Ghosts and vampires. Serious, the imagination she had sometimes!

_I'm never going to let you go, precious. You will be mine. I will kill your little protectors…_

Yoko shuddered at the vicious intent plainly showing in the vampire's words. Wait, had that vampire said _protectors_? The only person she could think of as a protector would be Zero, but that vampire might also be thinking of Yuuki too. They protected the Night Class from the Day Class fangirls…

Night Class. Kaname Kuran. Yoko felt a lump in her stomach form as an image of the suave dorm leader flashed in her head. Did that vampire – Franco Pierro, was that his name? - really think Kaname was her protector, or at least one of them?

The front of the shop disappeared, as well as the Pierro replicate. In her dreams, Yoko shook her head at her foolishness, not even noticing the change in scenery. If Franco Pierro had a lick of sense, he'd know that she couldn't stand Kaname. Right? She couldn't stand that pompous pureblood. Of course she couldn't! Right…?

"Yoko…" A voice appeared in her dreams, booming around in the darkness. Yoko's head moved from right to left, searching for the voice's origin.

_My precious…_

"Yoko, wake up…"

_Precious, darling, he's calling you…_

Yoko opened her eyes to be greeted by an almost anxious looking Zero. "I'm not your precious," she deadpanned as she rubbed the last bit of sleep from her eyes. Zero looked surprised that she would say something so queer after just waking up, but he didn't acknowledge it. Ichijo, on the other hand, couldn't help but snicker quietly across from the couple on the smaller couch.

"Come on, Yoko. We're getting out of here," Zero said, taking Yoko's elbow gently to guide her into a sitting position. "The town's firefighters and police have started to shovel out the streets."

Yoko blinked her eyes once more and noticed that Kaname an Ichijo were sitting calmly on the couch across the room. "Aren't you coming too?" she asked, sounding very much like a little kid who wouldn't be able to understand the answer she got unless it was simplified into easier-to-understand phrases.

Ichijo shook his head and smiled kindly. "Nope! It's too bright out there for us, and the snow reflects the light so much that an umbrella wouldn't be of much use anyway. Besides, someone needs to stay here to watch over Ms. Takuchi's shop, as she is unable to yet return herself." Yoko nodded wearily, only taking in half of the words in her sleep-like stupor. With some more help from Zero, the girl was able to stand and make her way out of the shop. Only once did Zero look back over his shoulder, giving a nod of farewell to the two vampires sitting cozily on the couch, side by side.

The bell alerting new customers clanged twice, and then the entire building was silent. Even the fire was making little sound as it burned steadily in a heap of ashes. Ichijo sighed and rolled back his head so it was leaning against the back of the couch. Kaname simply uncrossed his legs and crossed them again, switching legs.

It was going to be a long day for the two vampires.

---

WAH!!! Please don't kill me! I know I haven't updated in a LONG time (I lost track, hehe) and this chapter is so damn short! To be honest, I haven't really planned it out much farther than the scene in the front with Franco Pierro (I have a feeling I'll be typing his name a lot soon…). So, as I said earlier, I had no inspiration to write this, and it may be a while before I come up with some ideas so as not to create another crappy chapter.

You don't have to review for such a crappy chapter, but hey! At least I'm not quitting on it, right? I'm not even officially putting up a hiatus! I'm just scootching the story farther back in my mind! XD I'll work on it, I promise. And any ideas are totally welcome!


	16. Chapter 16

Err…hello! (cowers in fear) I'm SORRY! I really haven't updated in a while, and I know you all are very impatient, but please, stick with me! I got an amazing idea the other day, and it's basically just a sort of filler until I figure out how to present a few things. Surprisingly, if I plan it out, this story should have only around 5 or 6 chapters more. Maybe even less, if I write long chapters. I'll actually be very glad when it'd done, because then I can work on my other stories!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

---

Yoko walked down the hallway, her bag slung over her shoulder. Class was about to start, but she couldn't care less if she was late. Yuuki had been fretting over her constantly since she and Zero had gotten back to the academy yesterday. It was getting old, quickly. And now Zero was in trouble with the Headmaster for picking a fight with Aido. Or, rather, taking the bait and participating. So, now she had to walk around by herself while Zero was serving his punishment. As well as the punishment for sneaking out of campus without permission.

Yoko made it through the door and to her seat just before the bell rang. Flopping down, she caught the glance Yuuki threw her way, but decided to ignore the girl for now. Knowing Yuuki, she would probably approach Yoko on the way to their next class. If it was really that important.

The teacher started the lesson, and Yoko just barely took notes, only writing down what was on the board, instead of listening to the important facts that the teacher was spewing. The clock seemed to be moving slowly, but the lesson ended quite quickly. When the bell rang Yoko gathered her things and walked back out the door, stopping only for a moment when a particularly rude girl tried to pass her in the cramped hallways.

"Um, hey, Yoko…can I talk to you?" Yoko looked over her shoulder at the brunette, nodding quietly before the shorter girl continued. "Well…it's about Zero."

Yoko raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

Yuuki looked uncomfortable as she said, "I was just wondering…why is it that you didn't get in trouble, but Zero did? I mean, you both snuck out of campus late at night, but Zero's the only one who took a punishment…"

Yoko was quiet for a moment as she climbed the stairs. "I think…Zero took over my punishment. Once we explained the situation to Headmaster Cross, he agreed that what we did was right, but that we should have alerted him first before making a move." We still haven't told him about Franco Pierro.

"Oh. So, is Zero—"

"Yes, he's out hunting." Yoko didn't even have to finish her sentence. Yuuki got what she meant.

"I see. Oh! That's right! Here…" Yuuki rummaged in her bag a bit before pulling out a long envelope and handing it to Yoko. On the front, it had Yoko's first and last name written in large, scrawly letters. Yoko took the enveloper and looked at with mild interest before thanking Yuuki.

"Well, I have to go, so I'll see you later, okay?" Yuuki tried to smile, but the gesture came out half-heartedly. Yoko gave a fake smile back and turned to finish the rest of the stairs, but Yuuki stopped her once more.

"Yoko…what is your relationship with Zero?"

Yoko didn't even have to turn to see the fierce look in Yuuki's eyes. It seemed as though the girl had been wanting to ask the question for a long time, but had just built up the courage enough. Sighing, Yoko whispered loud enough for Yuuki to hear, "We're just friends. We couldn't be anything more if we tried." With that, the taller brunette swiftly climbed the rest of the stairs and paced down the hall, letting herself into the dorm room she shared with Zero.

Yuuki stared up at the top of the steps where her friend had been just a moment earlier. "I wish you'd just realize," she said sadly to herself, "that you two obviously aren't trying hard enough…"

---

Yoko sat in the armchair in the common room of her dorm, reading a book that she had found on a bookshelf in the bedroom. It was quite boring, though, so she ending up setting it back on the shelf and lying down on the bed for a little shut-eye. The rest never came, however. The thoughts of Franco Pierro and his terrifying sharp, glinting, blood-stained teeth plagued her mind, making her afraid to even shut her eyes for more than a blink.

The window was open, because the day had been a nice one and Yoko wanted to air out the room. A particularly powerful gust or air brought a long envelope sailing off the nightstand and onto the floor, within Yoko's vision. Exhausted (and a little bored) the girl leaned over to pick it up, a finger already under the lip of the flap by the time she had sat completely up again.

_Ms. Yoko Nakamura:_

_Night Class dorm leader Kaname Kuran and Vice dorm leader Ichijo would like to invite you to a nighttime party/sleepover_.

That was all Yoko had to read before she burst out laughing. All this formality to invite her to a sleepover? Skimming over the rest of the letter, Yoko realized that it held what she needed to bring (well, luckily they were going to supply beds, because she didn't have the customary sleeping bag) as well as what time to show up and that, to get in, she had to show the note to the greeter.

"Wow, at least I won't be bored today!" Yoko said, sniffling. She always sniffled after laughing. It was a habit. Then, she realized she had skipped the rest of school and that, yes, she was going to be bored, at least until night fall when she could head on over to the Moon Dorms. For a moment, Yoko wondered who else had been invited. Shrugging, she set about finding her clothes and toiletries (especially the toothbrush she had finally gotten, after days of using her finger!) for the night and stuffing them into her duffel bag.

---

Making sure to leave a note for Zero, Yoko picked up her duffel bag and snuck out the door, making sure it was locked. It was really dark out, because the moon was no more than a sliver in the night sky. Note in hand, Yoko tiptoed down the stairs out of habit and then let herself out into the cold, crisp night. In the back of her mind, Yoko vaguely wondered if Zero was warm enough. He guy was probably running around in his school uniform, for God's sake! A "tsk" of disappointment came from Yoko's mouth before she realized it, but then she shook her head and focused her thoughts on making it to the Moon Dorms as quickly as possible. A light breeze had picked up, making the cold a little under unbearable.

Finally, Yoko made it through the gates that separated the two dorms and practically ran up to the elegant steps. A door opened automatically for her, and Yoko stepped in, not caring who had been so polite to give her such a service. With a mutter of "Thank you," Yoko handed the greeter her message and the greeter nodded, gesturing down a long hallway.

"It's the third room on the left," he said. Yoko nodded and tried to take her note back, but the greeter smiled and hung on to it. Yoko just shrugged and walked past him, slow now that she had entered a warm building and was beginning to heat up again. Looking down at her shoes, Yoko caught a glimpse of the flesh under her skirt. It was blotchy from the cold, and a bit red from being hit by the wind. She imagined her hair was in a bad shape too. Not that she cared, but the room she was about to enter was probably full of stuck up snobs…

"Yoko! Yay! I'm glad you made it!" Yoko barely registered the flying blob with brown hair like her own before the blob hit her, going for speed. Yoko almost fell over, but managed to grab hold of the wall for support. The blob was now hugging her tightly around the middle, and Yoko didn't have to look hard to guess it was Yuuki.

"Um…I guess?" Yoko said, a bit dazed. So, she wouldn't be totally alone with the vampires…but Yuuki would probably be spending most of her time sucking up to Kaname Kuran, so Yoko was as good as alone.

"Wow, I didn't even know that envelope was an invite until I found my own!" Yuuki giggled and let go of Yoko, only to reattach herself to the other brunette's arm. "Come on, you can put your things in the room. I can't believe the Night Class did this! It's so cool!" Yuuki giggled again and Yoko found herself smiling. Yuuki really did put any bad thoughts in the back of people's heads.

Dragging Yoko into the room, Yuuki pointed out her own pink overnight bag and took Yoko's from her hands, dumping onto the floor without a second thought. Then, she proceeded to drag the brunette back out into the hallway, and throughout the building until they stopped in front of what Yoko knew to be Kuran's room.

Yuuki knocked on the big wooden door, a firm grasp still on Yoko's upper arm. The door was opened almost immediately by a beautiful Night Class student of whom Yoko didn't really recognize. Yuuki entered the room almost immediately and quickly walked over to the a small group of students. Yoko really only recognized a few, like Aido, Ichijo, Ruka, and Kain. They were all gathered around Kaname; some were in chairs and others sat gracefully on the floor. The other students (Yoko assumed that they too were Night Class) formed the ring that Yuuki had just seated herself in.

Yoko stood by the door, unsure of where to sit. Yuuki didn't seem to mind the close contact she had with the vampires, but, then again, she was in love with a vampire. Yuuki seemed to notice Yoko's hesitation because she twisted at the waist to look at Yoko and beckon her over. Yoko followed her feet and took a seat right behind Yuuki, sitting in the traditional Japanese style because she hadn't changed out of her school uniform and didn't want to flash anyone.

It took a moment of listening to the conversation, but Yoko finally knew what the others were talking about. No one had really noticed her entrance, really, which was a good thing.

"I want to take a course in baking," a very young-looking vampire said, holding her hands together as if she were daydreaming about the cakes and cookies she would make.

The vampire right next to Yuuki spoke up, his voice calm and soothing to the ears. "Really, Meika," he said in a somewhat reprimanding tone, "you know what your father thinks about your career choice." The girl, Meika, looked down, a red tinge apparent on her immensely pale cheeks.

"He's your father too," Meika muttered under her breath, and Yoko blinked in surprise. It hadn't occurred to her that whole families could consist of vampires. Actually, if she thought about it, she had never really thought about brothers and sisters having vampire blood in them. It made more sense, though if both of the siblings turned out the same.

"Actually, I think a woman who can cook is a great woman indeed," Kaname said, coming to the defense of the girl. Yuuki beamed pleasantly at her idol, but Kaname didn't seem to notice.

"Well," another girl, from the other side of the circle spoke, "I would like to be a lawyer. Everyone thinks that we vampires are monsters that need to be taken down. It I can bring just a little justice into this world, then it might just even out the balance."

Right after the girl's speech, everyone turned to look at Yoko. Yoko blinked and then grinned reassuringly, waving her hands and saying, "Ah, don't worry. I already know your guys' secret!" For some reason, when she said the word "secret", Yoko felt like she was somehow degrading the vampires. That their existence was a "secret", instead of something bigger. Well, she still wasn't sure why she even cared, but Yoko figured if she was going to be sucked into the world of vampires, she's going to do it gracefully, to keep what was left of her honor.

Yoko looked around the room at all the vampires staring at her. Even Kuran wasn't making an effort to hide his expression. And then, every single person in that little ring broke into a smile. Yuuki looked bewildered, but was smiling nonetheless.

"Um…" Yoko stuttered, not used to being put on the spotlight.

"How did you find out?" a boy sitting across from Yoko asked, his kind voice matching his boyish face. Now, if the scenario had been different, Yoko would have expected to be asked that question by a reprimanding, commanding voice. But when you have a dozen people smiling at you, a harsh and demanding voice doesn't really fit into the plot.

"Er…well I sorta figured it out…with some help…"

Yoko wasn't about to answer any more questions unless they were direct and specific. Luckily the rest of the attendees decided to drop how she found out. Unfortunately, they still had a question or two up their sleeves.

"You aren't going to tell, are you?" Yoko didn't know who had asked the question, but she looked up from twiddling her thumbs and put on an angry face.

"Do you really think I'd do that? I don't care what you are; you could all be half-crazed bananas for all I care! I'm not going to rat you out! Besides, even I did tell, no one would believe me anyway! They'd probably think I was mentally insane…" Yoko's voiced dripped with indignant sarcasm and when her little speech was over she went back to twiddling her thumbs. She didn't know that that was exactly the kind of answer the other had been expecting – and wanting – from her. At least now they knew their secret was safe with her.

Slowly, the original conversation began to trickle back in, and Yoko listened while the others talked, sometimes lifting her had to give someone a meaningful stare when they said something she didn't really appreciate. The night was just beginning to get interesting, however, when shouts starting to come from the hallway, the sounds of boots heavy against the tile floors. Those who weren't really interested in the current topic turned to watch the door, waiting for it to burst open at any minute. And burst open it did.

With a loud bang and more shouting, the door opened to show a panting Zero, several lower-class Night members right behind him, finally able to get a hold on him once he stopped.

Yuuki stood up the moment she saw the silver-haired teen. "Zero?" she asked quietly, surprise and concern written clear across her face. Too bad for her, Zero had his eyes set on a different girl.

"Kiryu, it's not polite to enter without knocking," Kaname said indifferently. The pureblood looked bored, even though he had been participating actively in the past few conversations. Again, Zero ignored him, staring at the brunette sitting closest to him. Yoko stared right back at him.

"Why?" the teen asked simply. Yoko felt embarrassed, but she held down the blush and replied.

"Why what? Please be more specific."

"Why did you think a little note would be enough?! Why didn't you just wait for me? Why did you have to be so bold and adventurous all on your own?" Zero's voice was raspy, like he hadn't spoken in a while. Yoko stared at him in the eye before standing up and walking over to Zero, taking him by the arm. The lower-class vampires didn't look too happy to have their target taken away from them, after they had just caught him, but Yoko ignored them and pulled the boy out into the hallway, making sure the door was firmly shut behind her.

The hallway was silent. Zero stood catching his breath quietly, and Yoko was thinking of what to say, and how to approach the topic.

"I'm sorry," Yoko whispered. "I honestly didn't think before acting. Please forgive me."

"I was really worried," Zero said at last. He didn't really say whether he forgave her or not, and it was making Yoko nervous. Zero sighed and scratched his head in a sign of irritation. "To come back and find you gone…"

"I really am sorry," Yoko said again, and she stepped forward to touch the taller boy's arm. Zero stepped closer to her also and pulled her into a fierce hug, letting his head hang low to sniff in the pleasant scent of her hair. Yoko took this as a sign that he accepted her apology.

"Come on, we better head back to the dorms before curfew," Zero said, taking Yoko by the shoulder to lead her down the hallway, but Yoko dug her heels into the tiles and stood her ground.

"Actually," Yoko said, as if she was ashamed of her decision, "I think I'd like to stay." Zero glanced over his shoulder and threw her a dark look at her. "Err, well, Yuuki's gonna be there! And I'll go back to the dorms as early as possible tomorrow! We don't even have school tomorrow, so it won't matter if I shave off of a few hours of sleep to get back early." Yoko put on a cheery smile and tried her best to convince the silver-haired teen that she would be fine one night on her own.

Zero didn't buy it.

---oops

Sorry I cut it off there, but it's almost midnight and I wanted to post this before Death Note came on. XD I think maybe if I watch the new episode while I type, I'll get more ideas.

Please don't kill me for being so late! I'm not going to ask for reviews, cause I've been a baaaaad girl, but please support me! I have no will to write unless I get encouragement from you lovely people!


	17. Chapter 17

Well, this isn't too bad

Well, this isn't too bad! I haven't updated in a while, but you can't expect me to update every day! I guess I'm just lazy, ne?

Well, I really don't have much to say. So, here's the next chapter. (Please ignore the obvious presence of writer's block!)

--

Well, the night wasn't going exactly how she had…planned.

Zero wasn't exactly giving her freedom, but he wasn't holding the leash around her throat either. He just sat there behind her as she listened and sometimes added a comment or laughed at a witty remark.

And it was annoying her.

"Well, it looks like it's time for us to be getting to our rooms," Kaname had said after glancing out the window and seeing the brilliant moon hanging low in the sky, ready to make its trade-off with the sun for dominance of the blue expanse.

And she was damned if Zero didn't practically control which bed she slept in. The bastard stepped in and requested that she be put with Yuuki, and that he should have the room next to theirs. And no one had stopped him from getting what he wished. Che.

Controlling bastard.

Well, Yoko couldn't really be all that mad at him. He was just showing that he cared. And that he didn't want her to be stolen away in the dead of night by a crazy, hunger-driven vampire bent on making her his. Oh yes, now that was _true_ love.

But, in a way, Yoko knew she didn't care that Zero was making all of her decisions for her. Because he was making them _for_ her, so that she would be _safe_. Because if she wasn't safe, then she couldn't see him, and that would be bad. Very bad. In fact, it would be bad on both sides.

Because both of them knew, without a doubt, that they were madly, truly in love.

And no crazy, hunger-driven vampires could break their love. Just forget all about the fact that one of the lovers_ is_ a vampire.

So, as Yoko laid, spread out on the bed that she and Yuuki were going to share for the night, she thought about how much Zero loved her. Because she was sure that he loved her _somewhat_, if not to a deep extent. Or, maybe it was a different kind of love. The kind where it doesn't matter how much love there is, just as long as it's there.

As Yuuki walked out of the attached bathroom after brushing her teeth, Yoko asked suddenly, "Hey, Yuuki, what is love?"

"Hm?" Yuuki asked as she put away her toothbrush into her overnight bag. "Well, I think there are different kinds of love. Like, I love Zero as a brother, but you love him as something more." Yuuki snuck a quite glance at Yoko to see that she was blushing. "Zero and I would never 'get together', because we love each other as only siblings. Er, well, think of it this way. You love someone when you want to protect them, spend time with them…I don't know." Yuuki sighed and sat down on the bed next to Yoko. "I'm not entirely sure what the true definition of love is either. All I have is a vague idea."

"I see," Yoko muttered. Well, although she cared about Zero, there wasn't much Yoko could do to protect him in times of danger, and he ended up protecting her instead. She did spend a lot of time with him though, and not just because they shared a dorm room. And she looked forward to spending time with him, so that had to count for something, right?

Just then, Yuuki broke into Yoko's thoughts. "Of course, there's also lust, but I can't ever imagine you lusting after someone, Yoko!" Yuuki laughed quietly to herself and smiled at Yoko. "Lust is a terrible thing, unless love can be brought forth from it. To be with someone just for their body is terrible, don't you think?" Yoko silently nodded. Well, even if she thought of Zero as a sex-god-walking, she knew that his body was just an extra feature. Everyone had a body, it just so happened that Zero's was yummy and delicious.

"So, why did you ask?" Yuuki sounded genuinely curious, but Yoko felt bad for doubting Zero's love for her, so she shook her head no and turned so that she was facing the opposite wall. Zero was behind that wall. Now that she had thought about him for so long, Yoko felt that she was missing her silver-haired friend. Or were they more than friends? Oh, it was so hard to tell!

Yoko felt the bed shift and knew that Yuuki had slid into bed beside her. "He really cares about you, you know," the other girl said quietly, and Yoko blushed, glad for the cover of darkness and for the blanket that she had pulled up to her nose.

"Um, Yuuki…"

"Yes?"

Yoko paused, and then said hurriedly, "No, it's nothing. Good night, Yuuki."

"Goodnight, Yoko." It was completely quiet in the room, and then Yuuki continued, "You know, I don't think anyone would miss you if you snuck next door."

"Really? Well, then." Yoko sounded satisfied, but then she sputtered and said, "Wait, why would I care about going next door? I can _totally_ go one whole night without Zero."

"Liar."

"Yeah, you're right." Yuuki heard Yoko sigh. "I'm just so used to him. It feels weird not having even the slightest trace of his presence in here."

"Like I said, no one will notice."

"Isn't he sharing a room with someone?"

"Er…I hadn't thought about that."

"Exactly." Another sigh. "Well, I'll live, I'm sure. We were planning to get up early anyway, because Zero always gets up early on days when we don't have school and goes to help with the horses in the stable, and I told him I wanted to help him. I'll just see him in the morning."

"Admit it." Yuuki's voice sounded smug, and Yoko could imagine a smirk adorning the cute girl's face. "You're totally, _madly_ in love with Zero."

"Admit it," Yoko mimicked, "You're totally, _madly_ in love with Kaname."

Yuuki stiffened. "Well, you see, it's different—"

"No, it's not." Yoko pouted, even though she knew Yuuki couldn't see it.

"I give up. You never give in, do you?"

"Nah, never. Not me, anyway."

"Must be why Zero likes you."

Yoko started an indignant reply, but then stopped and frowned. Was it possible that Zero liked her just for one odd like habit she had? Could he really like her just because she had a stubborn fighting spirit?

"…Although, you have a lot of good points in you. It's easy to see why Zero fell in love with you."

"Stop it." Yoko was blushing down to her roots. Such an awkward word:_ love_. How could Yuuki utter it so calm and quietly?

"Yuuki…" Yoko wasn't sure how to bring up the matter, "before Kaname, had you ever been in love?"

Yoko felt the mattress shift as Yuuki rolled over, so that she was now facing Yoko. "Actually, I'm not sure. See, I don't really remember much from before Kaname saved me from a wild vampire, and since then he's been my hero. If I did have a person I loved, then I don't remember them now. Now, I'm in love with Kaname."

"He…saved you?" That made quite a bit of sense. But had Zero ever saved Yoko from anything?

Yes, why yes he did. Saved from the crazy, hunger-driven vampire bent on making her his. Yes, quite a rescue indeed. But that wasn't why she loved him. Sure, she was grateful to Zero for saving her life, but that wasn't the exact reason.

"Yoko, can I ask what you're thinking about?" Yuuki's voice was soft and caring, and Yoko was almost tempted to tell the girl her doubts, but they were best kept as secrets for the time being.

"No, it's nothing," Yoko's smooth tongue lied. "We'd better get to sleep. I have to get up early in the morning, and you'd better get your beauty sleep so that you can impress Kaname."

"S-sure," Yuuki muttered. Yoko thought it was the first time she had ever heard the girl stutter like that. She was so used to the bubbly brunette who'd run to catch up with her in the hallways, ready at any moment to let loose the latest school gossip, or to slip in a concerned comment about their "boys". Wow, what an odd thought. Could Yoko really consider Zero "her boy"?

Snorting, Yoko rolled over in bed and nearly fell off the edge. She hadn't noticed just how close to the edge of the mattress she had been getting. Scootching farther over, closer to Yuuki, the girl snuggled closer to the soft fabric of the sheets and let herself nod off.

The room was silent, sans the breathing of the two young girls sleeping in it. Bright moonlight streamed into the room, despite the fact that the sun was almost already gone from the sky, curtains pulled over to each side of the tall picture window. Then, the beam of light was interrupted by a figure, crouched over outside the window's sill.

_Precious_…

--

Yayhay! LOL! So, maybe I have something in mind for the next chapter? Maybe? I guess you can all take a gander at what's gonna happen. I'm always pretty predictable. Please review! I think I'm going to have to go back to the 1 review 1 page. I only got four reviews last time, so I only wrote four pages! Well, a little under 5, but that's because I have weird page setups.

And can we please ignore the fact that this was a filler chapter, really? I can probably tie it back into the story somewhere, but I'd rather leave it alone and let you guys make your own assumptions.

Well, until next time!


	18. Chapter 18

Woohoo

Woohoo! 16 reviews! I'm going to try my best to make this a long chapter. And please excuse the filler chapter. I had bad writer's block. But now I'm back, and ready to write as I go, because I STILL have no idea where this story's going, and I only have a vague idea how it'll end. And that ending might be coming up soon. Like, possibly…in this chapter. Because I'm a terrible author.

--terrible…terrible…terrible…--

When Yoko woke up, she had the worst headache. Worse than the time she drank from the wrong glass at a party and ended up having a hangover. Worse than the time she fell out of a tree, hitting her head on the pavement, scrambling her brains in the process.

She tried to sit up, but her headache pulsed harder, throbbing against her skull. So she lay back down and tried to remember where she was. It was entirely dark in the room. Reaching out beside her, Yoko's hands felt the soft, satiny pleasure of warm sheets. Yuuki must have already left.

Yoko eased up into a sitting position again, and this time her head allowed her to stay that way. It was annoying how she couldn't see anything but the inky blackness of the room. Shouldn't there be a window somewhere off to her right?

Sliding carefully to the edge of the bed, Yoko carefully let her feet touch the ground. The floor was cold, hard cement. What had happened to the carpet?

Several clinking noises came from the front of the room, followed by a loud thud that resounded, bouncing off the walls. A hidden door swung open, letting in enough light to see that the room she was in was completely bare, except for the bed she was sitting on.

"_Hello, my precious_," a silky voice said.

"Huh?" Yoko couldn't think of anything intelligent to say.

"_Oh, dear. I haven't introduced myself to you, have I? My name is Franco Pierro_." Franco walked over to the bed, leaving the door wide open so that Yoko had enough light to see his face. Franco walked over to Yoko and sat next to her, taking her hand in his. "_Are you feeling alright? May I get you something_?"

"Um, an aspirin, maybe?" Yoko's headache was still pounding. Franco nodded and kissed Yoko's hands before letting go to get the aspirin. Yoko blushed; he was actually really good-looking. But she still couldn't figure out where she was, or what she was doing there.

When Franco left he kept the door open, so Yoko stood on wobbly legs, following him slowly. The door creaked when she leaned against it, poking her head out into the light.

The brightness made her squint, but Yoko knew she was looking out into a hallway. She also knew that she was nowhere near the dorms, or Cross Academy for that matter.

Out of the room, down the hallway in the direction Franco had gone. Listening to the sound of her feet as they padded past the other wooden doors, leading into rooms unknown. Watching Franco as he stood in a miniature kitchen, rummaging through junk drawers for a little bottle of aspirin.

She shifted her weight onto one foot and then the other, gaining Franco's attention. "_Would you like to sit down_?" he asked smiling graciously. Yoko could see the rim of a bar stool across the counter, so she nodded and stumbled off around the corner, lifting herself up onto a barstool. From there, she could see into the drawers. A pair of scissors, some scotch tape…pencils with broken lead, pen with little or no ink left in them…and finally, a little white bottle with red and blue writing.

Yoko waited patiently as Franco filled up a small, crystal glass with water and handed her two of the little pills. She took them gratefully, drinking all of the water to wash them down. Franco watched her the entire time, and took her glass when she was done. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"It was no problem," Franco said, smiling again. Yoko stared, thinking about how charming he looked when he smiled like that, or how delightfully smooth and lulling his voice was. Just then, an image of Zero flickered through her head, followed closely by one of Kaname. Yoko lightly rested her fingers against her temples, rubbing in small circles. The aspirins were helping, but not much.

"_So_," Franco said suddenly, "_this is our home. Would you like a tour_?"

"What?" Yoko looked up. "Our home? What do you mean?"

Franco smiled, and for a moment, Yoko wasn't captured by the way his mouth turned up slightly, or how his eyes crinkled. She was frightened by the little twist of the mouth, and the devil behind those eyes. "_Well, my dear_," the man started to say, and then he disappeared, reappearing behind Yoko to whisper in her ear, "_you'll be living with me from now on. Mine. My precious_…"

Franco wrapped his arms around Yoko, refusing to let her slide off the stool. He brought his lips to her neck and started to nip softly, but not enough to bring blood. His hands roamed, traveling from seemingly harmless places to places he had no business touching. Yoko twisted and wiggled, and even tried elbowing him fiercely, but Franco knew how to move to avoid everything she threw at him. And then, when his lips got bored of her neck, they traveled up, slowly kissing random places and teasing the nerves, until his lips were resting right on Yoko's.

A bang coming from a few rooms over made Franco stop his ministrations, and Yoko relaxed, limp in his arms. All hope had gone from her with that kiss. She finally realized that she would be forced to live as this…this _monster_'s slave…and then she heard the voice.

"Yoko? Yoko, where are you? Goddammit, answer me, damn woman!"

"Zero?" she whispered, and Franco heard her.

"_Oh, so this is the man that thought he could take me on. The one with your heart_." Franco looked down on Yoko, who was starting to weep silently. He embraced her, using one arm to wrap around her body while the other threaded through her hair, pressing her face lightly against his shoulder. Then, with finality, he pulled himself from Yoko and gave her a lasting kiss on the lips, of which she didn't even react to. "_I won't let him get you. I want you to be mine forever_."

Yoko glanced at Franco's face and took in his hard, determined gaze before she found herself alone. In the blink of an eye, Franco was gone. And for some reason, she couldn't figure out why the tears were coming down harder now.

--pagebreak--

Franco strode quickly and quietly through the many corridors in his old home. He had to protect her. She was the only thing that mattered to him.

His shoes made a soft clack on the floor as he rushed through his apartment, ducking into each door to check for any signs of the invader. And then he saw the light at the end of the hallway, shining out of the master bedroom. _His_ bedroom. Within a heartbeat his young, handsome features melted away, and he became a shadow of a beast once more.

A loud scuffle, and the door to the master bedroom swung open. Zero rushed out before even looking, and in a second he was locked against the wall, one of Franco's arms holding him there, and the other arm busy holding a razor-sharp nail to the teen's neck.

"You…" Kiryuu seethed. His hand itched to reach for the Bloody Rose, but Franco's nail pushed against the pale skin of his neck harder, almost drawing blood.

"_We meet again_," Franco said pleasantly, but he too was seething on the inside. This man held her beloved's heart, and Franco was fully sure that he would leave without it. If he left at all. One quick slice would take care of everything…

"Kiryuu, have you found anything?" a softer, gentler voice asked, and Franco whirled around, his hand still at Zero's throat. Sneakily, Zero slid his hand up hear his inside pocket, tapping the Bloody Rose with his fingers, as if to make sure it was still there.

"Good God, Kiryuu, what have you gotten yourself into?" Kaname asked with a smirk. Zero scowled. Now wasn't the time for the damn pureblood to be smiling like that.

"Yeah, yeah, just help me out, would you?" Zero asked gruffly. If he could just dump this rogue on Kaname he would be able to continue his search for Yoko, and he wanted to be the first to find her. The first to reassure her, the first to hold her in his arms and kiss her on the forehead and mutter sweet nothings into her ear…

Well, wait. Maybe that was going just a _little_ far.

"_Are you with him_?" Franco asked Kaname, inclining his head slightly towards Zero.

Kuran let out a soft snort and replied, "Unfortunately, I suppose I am." The pureblood didn't look phased at all when Franco let go of Zero to get up into the other's face. Zero took the time to fully draw the Bloody Rose, pointing it at the back of Franco's head.

The sound of the gunshot ricocheted off of the plaster walls.

"Zero?" A slightly hesitant voice piped up from the end of the hall. Yoko poked her head around the corner, worry etched into her pretty face.

Franco reverted back to his human form almost instantly, turning slightly to see the shock on Yoko's face as he sank to his knees. Zero still held his gun to the rogue, but his arm was slightly shaking.

"Fra…nco…?" Yoko's voice came out whispered, and she stepped fully around the corner, taking a few steps in the other's direction.

"Yoko," Zero barked. "Stay where you are. He isn't dead yet."

Yoko looked up in surprise. "You _shot_ him?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Zero said defensively. "Think of what he _did_ to you—"

"He did nothing!" Yoko shouted back, and she ran down the hall, dropping to her knees beside Franco and taking him into her arms, holding him against her chest, in an almost protective embrace. "Zero…he did nothing to me…"

Zero's eyebrows twitched, and then he sighed, lowering his Bloody Rose. "I don't believe it," he muttered.

Kaname watched all this silently. "Kiryuu, I think maybe we should leave them alone for a minute."

Zero shot Kaname a scathing look, but Yoko whispered, "Please, Zero?" Zero looked everywhere: at the walls, the ceiling, down the hall-anywhere but at Yoko. And finally he nodded his assent, following Kaname to a room a few yards away.

Once the two vampires were gone, Franco lifted up a violently shaking hand and brushed away a tear from Yoko's face. "_I love…you_," he said, pausing halfway through for a deep breath. Yoko just nodded her head, finding no words. She placed her hand over his and watched as a hole near his heart began to grow steadily larger, his flesh turning to sand, until she was sitting beside a pile of gray sand, tears still spring from her eye silently. And she remembered with a pang in her heart the expression of peace on Franco's face as he passed on.

"I'll never forget you," she said softly to the pile of sand, as if Franco himself could still hear her.

A hand lightly rested itself upon her shoulder. She wiped a few of her tears away before she looked up into the understanding face of Kaname Kuran. She accepted his embrace and tried to concentrate on balancing her breathing so the crying would stop.

The two sat on the floor for quite a while, with Zero leaning on the wall behind them, trying his best not to look contemptuously at Kaname in case Yoko caught him looking. Finally, with one last sniffle, Yoko unwrapped herself from Kaname's hold and stood up, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "Can we go home?" she asked. Both of the boys nodded. The three of them walked, side by side, out the front door of the apartment and into the streets, where a jet black car already awaited them. Kuran opened the backseat door and Zero slid in first, so that Yoko could sit in the middle. After tapping thrice on the driver's window, Kaname gracefully slid in and slammed the door shut, and the car took off.

Yoko couldn't remember much of the way back. She did remember, however, a comforting arm around her shoulders, and a lulling voice that commanded her to sleep as she laid her head on a toned shoulder. Before she completely fell asleep, though, she muttered, "He told me he loved me."

"I know," a soft voice responded, and Yoko internally sighed. She loved that voice. She had often heard it as she drifted off to bed in the dorms, and in the morning when she woke, and all during the day.

"I didn't love him back though."

"…I know…" This time the voice was more hesitant.

"I love Zero."

There wasn't any response for a long time, and Yoko slipped into unconsciousness for a quick second or so, until she felt a hand smooth her hand down on the side of her head, the arm around her shoulders bringing her closer to a warm body.

"I know…" A pair of soft lips pressed against her forehead, and she finally fell asleep, clinging to the sleeve of her loved one. "I love you too, Yoko…"

Kaname watched the two's interaction, a look of interest on his face. "I guess that means I'm out of this race, huh?" he asked in a slightly joking voice, the realization of rejection not yet hitting home.

Zero just nodded, trying to keep the smug smirk off of his face, and not exactly succeeding.

"You're lucky, you know?" Again, Zero nodded, a warm smile taking place of the smirk as he looked down upon his sleeping angel.

"If you hurt her in _any_ way, I'm taking her back, understand?"

Zero scowled and looked up. "Just who do you think you're talking to?" he asked. "I would never hurt her." A soft tenderness crept into Zero's voice that Kaname had never heard the boy use before.

Kaname looked out the window to avoid staring at the "happy couple". "Yes, I suppose."

"Kuran, I'm sure there's a _very_ lucky girl waiting for you back at the dorms," Zero said, a grin hiding behind his lips.

Kaname twitched his lips in response-the closest thing Zero would get to a grin. "I suppose so."

--Le End--

Well, that wasn't too bad, was it? Thank you ever so much for staying with me though the entire thing, you lovely reviewers you! I'm so sorry I treated you guys so badly! I deserve absolutely no reviews…but you all love me, right? (puppy eyes) So…any last thoughts? Any suggestions? Please feel free to message me, even if you just want idle chitchat!

Total reviews for this story (up to the 18th chapter): 83

Total hits: 11,194

Total favorites: 25

And one very special C2 community! Let's give everybody a big round of applause!


End file.
